Songs that Mention Photography

Cafe Society
1

Let’s make a list of songs that mention photography. Not songs that mention photographs–there are too many to count. But songs that mention the process of taking, making, and developing photographs.

Please give us the specific lyrics and/or and explanation.
Hey Ya, Outkast. “Shake it, shake it like a Polaroid picture.”

Kodachrome, Paul Simon. The whole song is about photography. “I’ve got a Nikon camera/I love to take a photograph…”

Freeze Frame, J. Geils Band. “Zoom lens feelings just won’t disappear/Close-up darkroom sweet-talk in my ear…”

Your turn!

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Blondie - Picture this

Depeche Mode - A Photograph of You

Def Leppard - Photograph

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Oops; the Blondie song contains the line “All I want is a photo in my wallet.” - the other two are self-explanatory, since the title contains the reference.

4

Turning Japanese, The Vapors

5

Photograph Ringo Starr

Pictures of You The Cure

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note to bienville: READ THE OP! READ THE OP! READ THE OP! :smack:

7

“People Take Pictures Of Each Other” - The Kinks (from the same album as “Picture Book,” which doesn’t quite fit the OP’s conditions)

maybe reaching a bit, but
“Peg” - Steely Dan (“And when you smile for the camera…”)

8

Last Frame by Van Der Graaf is about developing photographs of the singer’s lover and contrasting the permanence of the photo with the change in their relationship. Last verse:
Oh, the red light, the silver, the black and the bromide;
the silence, the waiting for overview…
The past seems under-exposed, low tide,
but still the images ghost through.
And you’re there in the bath,
which is all this has led to,
and I can’t say your path
is a right one to choose…
But then I only have a negative of you.

Paparazzi by Jethro Tull is an amused look at the celebrity snappers:
Be-decked with Nikon necklaces
hear the Paparazzi cries.
Under their noses walk
the famous in disguise.

9

Pictures of Lilly by The Who

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If we count movies: Show Biz Kids by Steely Dan (“Show business kids making movies 'bout themselves.”)

Popsicle Toes by Michael Franks (“How come you always load your Pentax when I’m n the nude?”

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An little known one now , but a big hit in the 60’s was Flash Bang Wallop by Tommy Steel. This was from the musical Half a Sixpence based on the H G Wells novel “Kipps” The song is about taking wedding-day photos in the days of flash powder. I have tried to find the actual lyrics , but they don’t seem to be available on the web.

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Girls on Film by Duran Duran

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A bit off-topic: Lewis Carrol wrote a parody of Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha” called “Hiawatha’s Photographing” which is a parody of nineteenth century portrait photography, and very funny, if you like that kind of thing.

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Hold Me Now - Thompson Twins
Pictures to Prove It - Mighty Mighty Bosstones

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FreezePop - “Boys on Film”

have a certain friend
a chic photographer
she’s a bad influence
and made me pose for her

boys on film- a bright smile
boys on film- a coy pout
boys on film- eyeliner
boys on film- you’re all decked out

[ REMAINDER OF LYRICS DELETED BY MODERATOR – CKDH]

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Images of Heaven by Peter Godwin - an 80’s new wave one hit wonder.

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*Pictures of Lilly
Made my life so wonderful
Pictures of Lilly
Help me sleep at night
Pictures of Lilly
Solved my childhood problems
Made me feel all right
Pictures of Lilly
*
Yes, it’s a song about masturbation.

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Can You Picture That - Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem

Let me take your picture
add it to the mixture
there it is I’ve got you now

I think that fits.

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  • Back on The Chain Gang *** The Pretenders**
    I found a picture of you.
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J. Geils Band - Centerfold