# Songs that Mention Photography **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2005, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228 "2005-09-12T12:18:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/1 "2005-09-12T12:18:28Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/2 "2005-09-12T12:44:16Z")
Blondie - Picture this Depeche Mode - A Photograph of You Def Leppard - Photograph ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/3 "2005-09-12T12:46:14Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/4 "2005-09-12T12:46:18Z")
**Turning Japanese** , The Vapors ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/5 "2005-09-12T12:48:07Z")
**Photograph** Ringo Starr **Pictures of You** The Cure ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/6 "2005-09-12T12:49:32Z")
> [@Green Bean](#): > > Not songs that mention _photographs_–there are too many to count. But songs that mention the process of taking, making, and developing photographs. **note to bienville:** READ THE OP! READ THE OP! READ THE OP! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/7 "2005-09-12T12:52:35Z")
“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…”) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/8 "2005-09-12T12:55:28Z")
**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._ ---
**Author:** ![DrMemory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DrMemory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrMemory)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/9 "2005-09-12T14:00:32Z")
Pictures of Lilly by The Who ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/10 "2005-09-12T14:08:15Z")
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?” ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/11 "2005-09-12T14:13:06Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/12 "2005-09-12T14:13:19Z")
**Girls on Film** by Duran Duran ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/13 "2005-09-12T14:42:01Z")
A bit off-topic: Lewis Carrol wrote a parody of Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha” called [“Hiawatha’s Photographing”](http://www.4literature.net/Lewis_Carroll/Hiawatha_s_Photographing/) which is a parody of nineteenth century portrait photography, and very funny, if you like that kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/14 "2005-09-12T14:45:24Z")
**Hold Me Now** - Thompson Twins **Pictures to Prove It** - Mighty Mighty Bosstones ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/15 "2005-09-12T14:49:11Z")
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] ---
**Author:** ![Bomzaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Bomzaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bomzaway)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/16 "2005-09-12T14:55:05Z")
Images of Heaven by Peter Godwin - an 80’s new wave one hit wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Meaty\_Beaty\_Big\_and\_Bouncy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Meaty\_Beaty\_Big\_and\_Bouncy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meaty_Beaty_Big_and_Bouncy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/17 "2005-09-12T15:33:49Z")
> [@DrMemory](#): > > Pictures of Lilly by The Who \*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. ---
**Author:** ![Alistair\_McCello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@Alistair\_McCello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alistair_McCello)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/18 "2005-09-12T15:54:37Z")
**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. ---
**Author:** ![Meaty\_Beaty\_Big\_and\_Bouncy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Meaty\_Beaty\_Big\_and\_Bouncy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meaty_Beaty_Big_and_Bouncy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/19 "2005-09-12T15:57:42Z")
- Back on The Chain Gang \*\*\* The Pretenders\*\* I found a picture of you. ---
**Author:** ![Corii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Corii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corii)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228/20 "2005-09-12T16:30:25Z")
J. Geils Band - **Centerfold** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-mention-photography/321228.md?page=2)