Photograph (Nickelback song)
| "Photograph" | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:Nickelback -Photograph-.jpg | ||
| Single by Nickelback | ||
| From the album All the Right Reasons | ||
| Released | 2005 | |
| Format | CD single Airplay Digital download | |
| Recorded | April 2005 in Dallas, Texas | |
| Genre | Alternative rock | |
| Length | 4:22 (album version) 3:54 (radio edit) | |
| Label | Roadrunner | |
| Writers | ||
| Producer | ||
| Director | ||
| Certification | 2x Platinum | |
| Chart positions | #2 (United States) #1 (Canada) #3 (Australia) #29 (UK) | |
| Review | ||
| Nickelback singles chronology | ||
| "Because of You" (2004) |
"Photograph" (2005) |
"Animals" (2006) |
"Photograph" is a single released by the Canadian band Nickelback, the first from their fifth studio album, All the Right Reasons (2005).
Presumably, its lyrics look back at the adolescence of frontman Chad Kroeger, who was responsible for writing the song. The single became the band's third top ten hit in the United States, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Photograph" has sold over 1.3 million digital downloads in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, though it is currently certified only as Gold (500,000) by the RIAA, since Roadrunner Records has not yet requested and paid for an updated certification.
The single was also a huge success on the Canadian charts, peaking at #1 and staying there for 7 weeks.
The song is an up-tempo track that is reminiscent of country music. The music video for the song was filmed in Hanna, Alberta, Canada, hometown to the majority of the band.
Music Video
The music video begins with Chad Kroeger, the video's protagonist, walking along a lonely, sparsely populated streeted, holding up a photograph of him and Nickelback's producer Joey Moi. As the song progresses to, "This is where I grew up", he walks to a rusty mailbox, address number 29025. As he speaks of sneaking out, the camera does not show the house itself, but does show a view from the inside looking out at him, possibly suggesting someone else lives there now. He continues walking, and comes to Hanna High School, announcing "This is where I went to school". He and his three other band members enter the gym with their gear and put on a seemingly impromptu concert alone. (Banners on the gym wall announce "Go Hawks go") During the chorus, two band members goes to an old junkyard and reminesce about a field where the rest of the band and their girlfriends are partying. Another experiences a similar event near an abandoned train yard, seeing his old grilfriend run near the tracks and kissing his younger self. The camera then switches to flashbacks of various people ("I miss that town, I miss the faces") As the video ends, the flashback people get in their cars to go home as the band finishes the song.
The video, and the song, plays upon everyone's feelings of, at one time or another, missing their youth and hometown friends. In that sense, it is similar to songs like Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams, Nightmoves by Bob Seger and several other nostalgia-based songs. What makes this song unique is the fact that it talks about closure and letting go of those memories ("It's hard to say it, time to say it, Goodbye, Goodbye"). It talks about closing doors to a part of your life that will never come back, and reshaping your dreams in the reality of now rather than the holding on to the dreams your long-lost past created ("I wonder if it’s too late, Should I go back and try to graduate?, Life’s better now than it was back then, If I was them, I wouldn’t let me in").
Charts
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Singles Chart | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 | 1 (1 week) |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 Airplay | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs | 1 (1 week) |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Tracks | 1 (6 weeks) |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 | 1 (18 weeks) |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 16 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 (7 weeks) |
| ARC Weekly Top 40 | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart | 29 |
| Australian Singles Chart | 3 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 4 |
| VH1 Top 20 Countdown | 1 (1 week) |
| Dutch Top 40 | 4 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 10 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 40 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 27 |
| Lithuanian Singles Chart | 11 |
| World Tracks Top 40 | 6 |