# Paul Simon's "Kodachrome": What is it about? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994 "2016-09-04T03:28:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/1 "2016-09-04T03:28:03Z")
I’ll link the video for The Muppets, Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem version, just for fun: I heard this song on the radio all the time when I was a young kid in the 1970s. I didn't get what the song was about back then ... … and I honestly don’t get it now that I’m 50. Talk amongst yourselves. I’m all verklempt. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/2 "2016-09-04T03:34:52Z")
Kodachrome was a color film introduced in the 1930s and discontinued in the 2000s. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/3 "2016-09-04T03:47:05Z")
3:27 ETA:Basically, it’s about nostalgia with photography as a metaphor. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/4 "2016-09-04T03:51:41Z")
I always took it as some kind of contrast between reality and imagination. OTOH, maybe it’s just about a guy who likes his camera. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/5 "2016-09-04T03:52:55Z")
Yup, pretty much nostalgia. Thinking back on high school, on girls he used to know. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/6 "2016-09-04T04:53:17Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > 3:27 > > ETA:Basically, it’s about nostalgia with photography as a metaphor. 3:27 is Floyd pulling on a chain to the left, then being chained from the right. Hmm. A message to stop looking to the past and come join the future? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/7 "2016-09-04T05:08:16Z")
[quote=“Mister\_Rik, post:1, topic:764994”] I’ll link the video for The Muppets, Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem version, just for fun: [/QUOTE] Ooh, they got some of the oldies out of the back of the closet for that one, didn't they? ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/8 "2016-09-04T05:26:25Z")
You can capture the colors of a summer day on Kodachrome, but you can’t capture the experiences of your life; they’re gone forever. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/9 "2016-09-04T06:42:27Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > You can capture the colors of a summer day on Kodachrome, but you can’t capture the experiences of your life; they’re gone forever. That’s the best interpretation I’ve ever heard 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/10 "2016-09-04T08:19:59Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > You can capture the colors of a summer day on Kodachrome, but you can’t capture the experiences of your life; they’re gone forever. On the other hand, memories and sweet imagination is probably better than it really was. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/11 "2016-09-04T10:04:49Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > On the other hand, memories and sweet imagination is probably better than it really was. I always hear this line as “they never match my sweet ‘_re-magination_’”, and interpret this made up word to me mean the mind’s tendency to take good memories and make them even better over time. It’s literally impossible for me not to hear the “r” sound at the beginning of that word. I swear it’s there; why doesn’t anyone else hear it? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/12 "2016-09-04T10:58:17Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > 3:27 is Floyd pulling on a chain to the left, then being chained from the right. > > Hmm. A message to stop looking to the past and come join the future? 3:27 is what Paul Simon’s _Kodachrome_ is about. It’s about 3:27. Seemed pretty obvious to me. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/13 "2016-09-04T11:05:40Z")
Okay, I’m whooshed. 3:27? ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/14 "2016-09-04T11:15:41Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Okay, I’m whooshed. 3:27? …is _about_ how _long_ it is. This is an ancient joke. What’s this song about? It’s about three minutes and 27 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/15 "2016-09-04T11:45:46Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > …is _about_ how _long_ it is. > > This is an ancient joke. > > What’s this song about? > It’s about three minutes and 27 seconds. :smack: “Whoosh” pretty much sums it up. ::scuffles back:: ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/16 "2016-09-04T14:26:49Z")
Back when the song came out, radio stations bleeped the word “crap” in the first line. Things have certainly changed. Also, Kodak took brief exception to Simon’s use of ‘Kodachrome’, but I don’t think anything came from it. Free advertising and all that. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/17 "2016-09-04T15:04:59Z")
I can’t really add anything here to others’ interpretations… they are spot on… I just came in here to say thanks for posting the vid. Made my day. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/18 "2016-09-04T15:23:52Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > I always hear this line as “they never match my sweet ‘_re-magination_’”, and interpret this made up word to me mean the mind’s tendency to take good memories and make them even better over time. > > It’s literally impossible for me not to hear the “r” sound at the beginning of that word. I swear it’s there; why doesn’t anyone else hear it? ☹ You know what? I listened to it again, and it sure does sound like “remagination.” ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/19 "2016-09-04T16:32:01Z")
I always figured “Kodachrome” is the happy snap lookback onto “My Little Town”. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994/20 "2016-09-04T17:13:33Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You know what? I listened to it again, and it sure does sound like “remagination.” Before I posted that, I spun up the iPod, put on a good set of headphones, and listened _again_, just to be sure. There’s an “r” there. I swear! But I’ve never seen any reference to it online. Apparently I’ve thought this for some time: [Paul Simon's Kodachrome - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=277065) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-simons-kodachrome-what-is-it-about/764994.md?page=2)