A Kiss Is Still A Kiss?
A kiss is that ubiquitous, universal, magical connection of physical (and emotional) closeness. The mysterious first kiss – that luscious soft newness of lips upon lips, the passion, the feeling of excitement and anticipation. For some it is a loss of self, for some a unity but it is also a connection that can signal the beginning of something wonderful that will last “forever,” or the beginning of something that might end in heartbreak. Or the beginning of “not much.”
The kiss has been depicted in the visual arts, literature, in song, movies and even expletives.
In the visual arts what first comes to mind is the late French sculptor, Auguste Rodin’s, “The Kiss.” The back story, according to Wikipedia, is that this sculpture originally had a different title “Francesca da Rimini,” depicting a 13th-century Italian noblewoman whom Dante wrote about in his Inferno who (foolishly) falls in love with her husband’s younger brother, Paolo. They supposedly fell in love while reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere but are discovered and killed by Francesca’s husband. In the sculpture, the book can be seen in Paolo’s hand, but tragically their lips do not actually touch which suggests they were interrupted and met their demise without their lips ever having connected.
Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss,” probably what he’s best known for, depicts a couple bound up in various shades of gold and symbols, sharing a kiss against a bronze background. The man appears to be lost in the kiss; he’s faceless and unidentifiable, while the woman is turning her head towards the viewer and seems aloof. It might represent how bright, beautiful, and golden everything is when you first kiss someone. Or that the female is succumbing to the male and experiencing a moment of sexual ecstasy. (Wikipedia.) Whatever the interpretation of this painting, the kiss is still a kiss.
In literature there’s Anton Chekhov’s short story “The Kiss,” Kate Chopin’s with the same name and numerous others where the word “kiss or kisses” is embedded in the title. And let’s not forget children’s books.
In song kiss and kissing references abound:
A Kiss To Build a Dream On – Louis Armstrong
A Little Kiss Each Morning – Rudy Vallee
Baby Let Me Kiss You – King Floyd
Don’t Talk, Just Kiss – Right Said Fred
Give Her a Great Big Kiss – New York Dolls
Give Him a Great Big Kiss – Shangri-las
Haul Off & Kiss Me – Caroline Aiken
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me – Mel Carter
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me – U2
I’ll Kiss You – Cyndi Lauper
It’s in His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song) – Betty Everett or Cher
Kiss – Prince
Kiss – Marilyn Monroe
Kiss and Say Goodbye – Kate & Anna McGarrigle
Just to name a few. And let’s not forget the title of this post taken from “You must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss……..” (As Time Goes By). Then there are the expletives: Kiss my ass, or kiss my butt. How about kiss my grits? (Supposedly grits are located between the toes; a saying that means something like kiss my ass, but more old-fashioned.)
But, what about kiss my fish? That ubiquitous, universal, magical connection?
It must run in the family because both N and his brother are seen here fish kissing, just before they (the fish) were put back into the water.
A kiss is still a kiss.
Copyright © 2008
