For the next 30 days, I’ll be taking the #AprilAcrossAmerica challenge, picking one song a day as I make my way across the country and across genres at the same time.

Day 11: Louisville, KY

There are typically two characteristics of a good morning jacket. First, a good one keeps you warm, and second, a good one serves its purpose early with no need to keep it on for the remainder of the day. That’s it. It isn’t complicated. In many ways, My Morning Jacket’s music has played that role for me, including this unique song from one of my favorite MMJ albums.

The aspects in “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream, Part 2” that get me going are both foundational and ornamental. At the foundation is a peculiar melody and song structure. It grooves early and then strangely fizzles out as if there’s a power shortage in the recording studio. On the peripheral is Jim James’s voice dancing seamlessly between high tenor and falsetto and an alien-like synth riff that sounds like it’s trying to communicate with us. I simply can’t get enough of it.

“IT'S BEEN SO LONG, SINCE SOMEONE CHALLENGED ME. AND MADE ME THINK, ABOUT THE WAY THINGS ARE. MADE ME THINK, ABOUT THE WAY THEY COULD BE.”