Crowbarred's Mellow Mix Volume 1: MM Vol 1 - 011

MM Vol 1 #011
Filter
"Take a Picture"
(1999)

Genre:Alt Rock

My father was a bastich, its OK you can put the Kleenex back in the drawer. He really never knew me or more so the point, never wanted to. When i was two years old he decided to leave and fight the battles of a war that he would never win. His battle with the bottle and the ongoing war of female interests took its toll and finally claimed his life well into his 80's. There were no medals for bravery in this war but I'm sure the 50,000 bottle caps can sure melt down to a very nice trophy indeed. I don't miss him, because really, I never knew him either. He did leave me one gift that I can never repay him for.... and that is .. I sure do love my sons. Hows Hell Dad? Take a picture for me.

Yes .. we took the red pills

Patrick continued with 1999's Title of Record with returning members Lenardo and Cavanagh, as well as Steve Gillis on drums, filling in the gap left by Walker after he left to work with The Smashing Pumpkins. Title of Record moved away from industrial rock somewhat, and resulted in the band's biggest hit, the mellow ballad "Take a Picture", along with other lesser-heard singles "Welcome to the Fold" and "The Best Things". The diverse assortment of tracks on the album also had some definite backstory as well. The song "Take a Picture" is about a dispute on an aircraft, when Richard Patrick drunkenly stripped down to his boxers, alarming the other passengers. Lyrics include: "I don't believe in...your privacy"; "I feel like a new-born"; and "Awake on my airplane." "Do you want to take my picture 'cause I won't remember?" is a popular Southern phrase and in this case possibly refers to an alcoholic blackout. The lyrics "Hey, Dad, what do you think about your son now?" refers to the theory that Patrick's father didn't believe he could make it in the recording business and tried to persuade him to pursue another direction. The song "Captain Bligh" (after Vice-Admiral William Bligh of the HMS Bounty) was written by Patrick after leaving Nine Inch Nails and was about Trent Reznor's notoriously anti-social habits. ~ [excerpt from Wikipedia]

The Song & the Video ....

Richard Patrick

The song's lush synthesized wall of sound and its lyrics, revolving around the chorus: Could you take my picture / 'Cause I won't remember, lends it a surreal and dreamlike aura. This has caused many people to interpret the meaning of the song for something that it wasn't originally meant to express. Richard Patrick has said that the song is about him getting drunk on an airplane, taking off all of his clothes, and fighting with the flight attendants who tried to stop him. A music video, directed by David Meyers, featured the band in a dreamlike sequence taking place in four different areas; a room being flooded by water, under the ocean with no Scuba gear on, on a tiny rowboat in the middle of the ocean, and on the roof of a tiny cottage. All these events in the video are taking place in the middle of the night. The song crossed over to Top 40 radio (it reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100). In addition, the song hit #1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The song peaked at #8 on the New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart on February 27th, 2000. The song was featured in three movies to date. the 20th Century Fox 2004 movie, The Girl Next Door, starring Elisha Cuthbert, Saving Grace, starring Craig Ferguson; and Little Nicky, starring Adam Sandler.

For more Filter see Number 040

For Smashing Pumpkins see Number 139

For more Smashing Pumpkins visit The Definitive 1000 Songs #864, #811, #680 & #568

This song has a crowbarred rating of 91.4 out of 108 pts