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That kind of intensity is suggested by the music of Pictures Of You, as Smith and fellow guitarist
Porl Thompson weave in and out of each others lines in mesmerizing fashion while keyboardist
Roger ODonnell props them both up with stirring chord changes. The music, combined with
Smiths impassioned vocal, gives the effect of him desperately dashing to stop his lover from
getting on a plane and leaving for good, only, unlike the movies, the plane leaves before he gets
there.
Smith sets the tone immediately with a verse that suggests an obsession with the pictures of his
former love: Ive been looking so long at these pictures of you/That I almost believe that theyre
real/Ive been living so long with my pictures of you/That I almost believe that the pictures are all I
can feel. Those pictures rocket the narrator into the past and a world full of falling skies, dying
hearts, and screaming lovers. Extreme emotions sometimes call for extreme descriptions.
There is clearly some admiration on his part toward the girl for conquering her demons (And you
finally found all your courage/To let it all go.) Yet her freedom also came at his expense, and at
songs end, Smiths vocal quivers with emotion no longer restrained as he sums up the narrators
pain: There was nothing in the world that I ever wanted more/Than to feel you deep in my
heart/There was nothing in the world that I ever wanted more/Than to never feel the breaking
apart/All my pictures of you.
You get the feeling that the narrator will be trying to piece those pictures back together for the rest
of his weary existence. The Cure and Robert Smith at their peak captured immense, intense anguish
better than anybody, and Pictures Of You is the ultimate manifestation of that ability.
"I've been looking so long at these pictures of you, That I almost believe that they're real." I love
having pictures, but it is hard not to have anything to go with them.
This is a song about regret, not being able to find the right words, missing opportunities, asking too
much. All he has left are his pictures of her.
its probably another song in referal to his drowned love??
( i place question marks simply as this is a new revelation to me about robert smith .. i dont study
him i just happen to have listened to his music for years)
"remembering you fallen into my arms.. and screamed at the make believe".. he was a big drinker
"you were stone white so delicate lost in the cold"...and one night just before he died i found him
outside in the dark naked and cold and shivering and bruised..
the night he died i told him not to go .. not to get on his bike.. he didn;t wish to leave either but said
he had to but
"if only i thought of the right words"
even though he was an alcoholic he was still an amazing person .. just lost..
slow drowned
you were angels
so much more than everything
hold for the last time then slip away quietly
he finally found all his courage to let it all go.
"I've been living so long with my pictures of you
That I almost believe that the pictures are
All I can feel"
I think this means because he's been without the person for so long, only seeing the pictures, he's
almost forgotten the feelings he had for them, or how strong they were and now he just feels
...empty?