Take a Picture
| "Take a Picture" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Filter | ||||
| from the album Title of Record | ||||
| Released | November 16, 1999 | |||
| Format | CD | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, Industrial rock | |||
| Length | 6:03 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Writer(s) | Richard Patrick | |||
| Filter singles chronology | ||||
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"Take a Picture" was the second single off Filter's Title of Record. The song became a major hit during the start of 2000. It was the band's first departure from the industrial rock that they usually played, instead being soft and melodic.
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. Filter's frontman, and founding member 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.[1] This would account for the introductory, and later-repeated, lyrics: "Awake on my airplane, awake on my airplane...my skin is bare, my skin is theirs."
"Take a Picture" also features Patrick's petulant taunt: Hey, Dad, what do you think about your son now? Patrick's father was offended by this line, but Patrick explained to his father that each time he sings the line it has a different meaning because Patrick changes the tone in which he delivers the line each time it's sung.[2]
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.
Filter played two years in a row at popular Washington, D.C./Baltimore radio station 99.1 HFStival in which their first year's performance in September 1999 they left out this song, but due to its popularity and mass requests as stated all day during the second year's performance in May 2000 they played the song as the closer.
[edit] Charts
The song crossed over to Top 40 radio (it reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 25, 2000, after reaching the Top 40 on December 14, 1999). In addition, the song hit #1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart on January 25. Remixes were provided by Club 69.
The song peaked at #8 on the New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart on February 28, 2000.[3]
The song has been featured in numerous motion pictures, including The Girl Next Door, Saving Grace, and Little Nicky and Pay It Forward. It is also a playable track in the music video game Band Hero.
[edit] End of year charts
| End of year chart (2000) | Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[4] | 58 |
| Preceded by "That Sound" by Michael Moog |
Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single February 5, 2000 |
Succeeded by "Temperamental" by Everything but the Girl |
| Preceded by Learn to Fly by Foo Fighters (first run) |
Canadian RPM Rock/Alternative 30 number-one single January 10, 2000 (first run) January 31 - March 6, 2000 (second run) |
Succeeded by "Learn to Fly" by Foo Fighters (second run) "Load Me Up" by Matthew Good Band |
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Filter: Title Of Feature". MTV. 1999-11-02. http://www.mtv.com/bands/archive/f/filter/filterfeature99_2.jhtml.
- ^ Enhanced "Making Of" on the CD-single
- ^ RIANZ
- ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 2000". http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=2000. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
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