Last year, I read a fantastic book called The Natural History of the Senses, written by Diane Ackerman. If you haven't read it, you haven't heard, seen, tasted, touched, and smelled. This book radically changed how I perceived everything around me, making me feel fortunate to have all my senses and be more aware of them. (My friends who can't smell are only fortunate because they can't smell my farts, nothing else.)

Anyway, I began to think of songs that pertained to senses. Sight is the most popular. Pictures, blue skies, flowers - writing a visual lyrical story from observation. Boston DJ/MC Edan is one of the keenest observers today. I'd be hard-pressed to find a song as good or with as much detail in three-and-a-half minutes as "Beauty." There are other great ones - Galaxie 500 "Pictures" (sorry, Eric), Rolling Stones "She's a Rainbow," The Books "Venice"... I can see them all. Other songs seem like cross-wired act of synethesia - most tend to be old psychedelic rock songs, but Isaac Brock can and does scramble up the senses often.

But there are some wordless songs you can feel the textures of the music ripple through your ears and blood stream and over your body. Four Tet's "Spirit Fingers" is one of those. It's a grand display of mbiras and hammer dulcimers and east Asian strings and god-knows-what-else making some of the most fleeting, beautiful music ever. Hearing it is like getting a massage. Or blow-job. Same goes for Atlas Sound and the title track of his full-length Let The Blind Lead Those Who See But Cannot Feel.

Seems like all the songs about smells are written in a humorous tone or just gross, I don't know why. Ween has quite a few of songs about taste and touching things.

Since finishing the book, I have been trying to compile a 6-disc mix that covers all the senses (the 6th disc, for synesthesia, could be less psychedelic-heavy, the tastes and smells could be a little less funny/sweet, the touch could be a little less ethereal).

What are some songs I am missing? What songs really capture the senses, one or a couple or all at once?