Picture this: You’re in a club in a tiny mountain town in Albania. It’s 3am. Your friends have disappeared; they’re walking a drunk 19-year-old back to the hostel, but you don’t know that. You feel lost, you feel confused… until you hear the comforting sounds of the Australian national anthem — “Untouched” by The Veronicas — blasting through the speakers. The lyrics feel like they’re burnt into your brain as you scream-sing them to the slightly confused man from Germany dancing too close to you.
“It’s the Australian anthem,” you tell him. You mean it. He believes it.
It’s not long before the other Australians in the club make themselves known. That’s the unwavering beauty of “Untouched” by The Veronicas.
On Saturday, Triple J unveiled their long-awaited countdown of the hottest 100 Australian songs of all time. As I expected (alongside thousands of other Gen Zs and millennials), The Veronica’s iconic track landed a well-deserved spot in the top three.
However, not everyone agrees with the tune’s placement.
“WTAF? So many insanely good Australian artists overlooked but the Veronicas are number 3? Who was even voting?” commented one listener on Instagram.
“Just no,” wrote another.
“Proof a much broader demographic was voting than just Triple J listeners. When you think of where some iconic songs landed (Red Right Hand Nick Cave #98!) and this at #3 personally, it’s a total head scratcher,” said another more logical listener.
Today, in this article, I will explain to you why the opinion of those held above is incorrect, but first, a music history lesson.
“Untouched” was first released in 2007 by musical duo Lisa and Jess Orgilasso, known as The Veronicas. It was the first single off their second album Hook Me Up, and while they’d already become household names in the Aussie music scene, it was their first crack at the international charts.
In Australia, “Untouched” reached the number two spot. Meanwhile, in the UK, it peaked at number eight, smashed the charts as number one in Ireland and number 17 in the US Billboard charts. However, over the years, the song has somehow become a steadfast classic, causing a ruckus in any backyard, club or bar every time the signature strings play out over the speakers.
Despite “Untouched” persistent and enduring legacy, some people have questioned its place within the top three spots on the top 100 Aussie song chart. Yes, even though the top 100 was voted for by the Australian public and a representation of who we are through music, people are still claiming that the track and The Veronicas, did not deserve their spot.
To that, I say, shut the fuck up.
Before “Untouched” became known as the unofficial Australian anthem, it was bestowed upon the queer community as the “national gay anthem”. Then, it was embraced by the pop girlies as the girls, gays and theys rose up to support the iconic duo.
According to Jess, their early work like “Untouched” sonically encapsulates queerness, even though she wasn’t public out as queer at the time of the song’s release.
“People say that we gave the gays ‘Untouched,’ but it was actually the gays that gave us ‘Untouched’,” Jessica said, per Nylon Magazine in 2019.
“Because we literally grew up influenced by all the music that was defining queer culture. So, of course, we were going to go on to create music that reflected that.
‘Untouched’ doesn’t say ‘I want to kiss a girl,’ that’s ‘Take Me on the Floor’. There’s no overt language in ‘Untouched’, but it’s something about that song.”
I saw The Veronicas at a queer music festival a couple years back and they went "STAND FOR THE MOTHERFUCKING AUSTRALIAN ANTHEM" and the intro strings of Untouched hit. It felt like how I assume heroin must feel.
— Mitch Feltscheer (@mitchfel) July 26, 2025
Ultimately (and ironically), those claiming that “Untouched” shouldn’t have landed a spot in the top 100 Australian songs are the ones out of touch. It’s the embrace of a banger that was written off by pop music haters the first time around, enshrined in history where it deserves.
The post Fight Me: The Veronicas Deserved Their #3 Spot In The All-Aussie Hottest 100 appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
