Fan reviews/comments

THE PHOTOGRAPH
(Words and Music by Rick Springfield)

Hands old and poor, her back bent and sore
she lifts from the drawer
the photograph
Though tattered and torn, through years it has worn
but still bears the form of the man she knew
Her eyes are weak, spilling tears on her cheek
Her lips start to speak to the photograph
She tells him with pride, she still loves him inside
Though years ago died, la da da da da
la la da la da la da da
la da la da da......

And all of the people she knew
Who she knows no more
Who don't know the score say
We wonder why, she never married
such a pretty girl she was, such a lovely face she had
such a pretty thing she was, was

She turns to her right, to put out the light
and wishes goodnight to
the photograph
Her love though it's strong and lasted this long
and goes on and on
she's still alone
la la da la da la da da
la da la da da......

(total playing time: 3:25)

Song Facts: This can be found on Comic Book Heroes.

This is an incredibly sad song. The woman has held her devotion all these years for a man who's gone. Why? Was it a lover? A son? Did he abandon her? Killed in the war? The point is, she's never loved anyone else, even though she has received no love in return for most of her life.

Incredibly romantic.

One of my favorite bands, Mana, has a couple of similar songs, the girl is waiting at the dock, waiting for her sailor to come back, or the girl is waiting in the town, waiting for her man who's left to find work elsewhere to come home. Both wait their entire lives, and we see the old woman, la loca, still waiting, her life wasted because of love.

Incredibly romantic.

Incredibly egoistic on the part of the guy, thinking that, although he's out romping through the world, his girl is home, wasting away, pining for him. And she'll wait and waste her whole life. Because God knows, without her guy, she's nothing. Sorry, different soapbox.

Anyway, the girl turns away other, perhaps better suitors, because of her love for the one who is away. It's suppose to be about dedication. Just like a good dog.

I still think it's incredibly egoistic on somebody's part. At least in one line of the Mana song, you sort of get the sense that the man feels bad that he's allowed her to ruin her life. (get this--Allowed her--wrong soapbox, again)

However, I get the sense from Rick's song, that the man's absence was somehow unavoidable. Isn't it a photograph of a soldier in the cover art? So many men were killed in the great wars, maybe she didn't have so many other great offers. Also in times such as war, I think the guys going away need to feel like their women are going to stand by them no matter what. It's a type of heroism, the sacrifices made on both sides of the gender line.

either way, she's dedicated, and now, she's old, and alone... Eleanor Rigby.

Funny, as a teenager, it never occurred to me that this song was sad. Now I see it, but I remember thinking it was just and incredibly beautiful concept, that love ENDURED like that. The guy was dead, that part was tragic, but even through that, love didn't die. As a teenager that almost seemed something to aspire to (well, not the dead lover part). Though she's crying in the song, I never really thought of her as sad. I thought of her as still having something that most people would have lost long ago.

Ah, the proverbial "one great love" song. We knew it would show up eventually. Sometimes I think Rick is a fan of romance novels. In today's society it's hard to imagine someone who is not "old" that would go through life never marrying again because they could never find that mate that would match up to the standard set by the first great love. This is why this song is so appealing to me, I'm not sure it would be possible for me to do such a thing. I visited my grandmother regularly in a nursing facility twice weekly for two years. There were women in residence there who could fit this song, with their photographs by their beds and tears in their eyes upon mention of departed husband. They also talked to their photographs :-) <cute little side note here: My grandmother had pictures of my grandfather and all of her 10 grandchildren. I am her oldest grandchild. The picture representing me wasn't of me & my husband, but of me and Rick. She was so proud that I had met "Dr Noah Drake" and would point out to people regularly that I did. Irked my husband to no end...>

The story in this particular song though makes me think that the old woman never married the man in the photograph. Perhaps he did go off to war when they were only engaged and he never returned home. The illustration inside the album cover makes you believe he was a soldier, and I'd like to continue with the thought that Rick had input for each comic book. The second verse has Rick singing, "We wonder why she never married" so either they didn't or the people wondering didn't know. The line that bugs me however, is the one that says, "such a pretty girl she was" like she's hideous now or something. I've also always heard that line as "such a pretty thing she was, once" and not "was, was". Either way, it's pretty demeaning. Considering the sad demise of her relationship at such an early age, this would explain no children to take care of her in her elder years.

Strange that I never saw this song as sad. I guess the hopeless romantic in me always saw the undying love as being something beautiful, unique and rare... something that as a child, I always hoped for when I grew up.

When I listened to this again today, I tried to see the sadness and the egotist male in the song, but I kept going back to the thought that if this song was based on a love that he had for a woman, it would be much easier to write coming from the female perspective. The man can be killed at war or something... to me the song sounds like his was a heroic death. But if he would have written it as the man being the one gazing longingly at the photograph, he'd be the laughing stock of the guys at the bar, or on the job, or something.

I don't know... I guess this song was always a very sweet song to me, one of my favorites on this album.

This song is the only one on the album in my opinion that the la la la's sound appropriate, or at least are not as irritating. This song reminds me of a Peter, Paul & Mary song. It flows kind of like in a "Puff the Magic Dragon" kind of way.

More strange instruments in Rick's music. A harpsichord.... I repeat... A harpsichord. :o) Works for me in this song though, as long as I try to forget about all the GREAT guitar stuff to come in Rick's music that is. When I think harpsichord, I think Mozart.

love this sad sappy stuff. What a touching and beautiful story. Rick was also really working on that rhyme thing wasn't he?? :o) He was really into the la dee da's back then too, huh??

A recurring thing on his first few albums. Good song filler I guess. LOL!

This seems to be a story of a woman who loved a man that died, and never got over him. When I was picturing the story in my head, I'd always think of him as a soldier.
The rhyme scheme bothers me a little, it seems a little forced. The whole song seems a little forced to me, actually, like a story being told without any real emotion behind it.