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performance video.
Hear the Song
v
Vocal harmony: Robin Waller Cramer
Guitar Solo: Greg Lomax
A Picture of You
words and music by Paige Powell ©1987 Paige E. Powell
1. I dreamed I took your photograph last night.
The film was in my hand. I held it tight.
I tried to protect it from the light,
But the light leaked through my fingers.
It faded the images I caught.
Time and neglect, thieves I’d forgot,
Vanishing the photographs I shot
Of you, and our time to linger.
C: Please, let me take a picture of you
Memories would be so sharp and clear.
Oh, how I need a picture of you!
Somehow, love would never disappear!
In my hand, I’d always hold you near.
2. If I had a camera in my hand,
I’d photograph the way you love the land
And I could keep your smile and how you stand.
You stand in my mind forever.
Frozen frames of our time in love
Would capture the joy you’re thinking of.
In the album, I could write above
Each fragment that time could not sever. (Chorus)
(guitar solo)
2nd Chorus:
Smile, and I’ll take a picture of you
Memories will be so sharp and clear
Oh, how I need a picture of you!
Then, love will be caught year after year
In my hand, I’ll always hold you near.
One of the earliest of Paige’s songs, it explores loving someone so much that you want to keep their picture with you, to keep the memory of that moment.
Have you ever loved someone so much that you wanted to carry their picture with you? “Memories would be so sharp and clear… Somehow, love would never disappear… Then, love will be caught year after year.” Each treasured photo “capture(s) the joy you’re thinking of…” and is a “…fragment, which time cannot sever…”. This 1987 recording, from the archives of Paige’s early songs (with photo to match) also talks about “film” in the camera, an antique concept! Paige’s guitar picking and chords is based on Stevie Nicks’ “Landslide”. Vocal harmony is by Robin Waller Cramer and the guitar solo is by Greg Lomax.
To read more about "A Picture of You" here is a copy of the blog from November 13, 2020.
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