Pictures of You (The Cure)

I’ve been looking so long at these pictures of you
That I almost believe that they’re real
I’ve been living so long with my pictures of you
That I almost believe that the pictures
Are all I can feel

Remembering you standing quiet in the rain
As I ran to your heart to be near
And we kissed as the sky fell in
Holding you close
How I always held close in your fear
Remembering you running soft through the night
You were bigger and brighter and wider than snow
And screamed at the make-believe
Screamed at the sky
And you finally found all your courage
To let it all go

Remembering you fallen into my arms
Crying for the death of your heart
You were stone white
So delicate
Lost in the cold
You were always so lost in the dark
Remembering you how you used to be
Slow drowned
You were angels
So much more than everything
Hold for the last time then slip away quietly
Open my eyes
But I never see anything

If only I’d thought of the right words
I could have held on to your heart
If only I’d thought of the right words
I wouldn’t be breaking apart
All my pictures of you

Looking so long at these pictures of you
But I never hold on to your heart
Looking so long for the words to be true
But always just breaking apart
My pictures of you

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

In remembering loved ones who have gone ahead before us, we tend to highlight the best things and the best memories we have about them. There’s nothing inherently wrong about this, it’s just something we do as humans to make the pain of their loss become more bearable. These heartwarming memories burn an image in our retinas that won’t ever be erased, even after the pain and the grieving have passed. People have their own ways of dealing with this loss and all of it is okay. What exacerbates the pain sometimes is that we may not have said the things we wanted to say to the lost loved one back when the person was still with us.

This is the central theme in Pictures of You by the Cure. It is about the joy of remembering somebody we once had, the pain of regret about the things we could have said and done, all in the pursuit of “[finding] the courage to let it all go”. So, you can think of this song as sort of a funeral service for feelings of grief and loss.

Because of its apt lyrics, this could be a suitable funeral song. It can be something you can plan to use on your own funeral one day. Not that we’re wishing you to go kaput, it’s just something some people tend to think about. People already spend on life insurance plans, why not complete it with your very own funeral song to play as they undertaker lowers down your coffin? Once you get over the 2:30 minutes of song intro, you’d be treated to the very recognizable voice of Robert Smith, the band’s vocalist.

Once the lyrics start, you’d be introduced to a feeling of longing, one which is very familiar with people who lost somebody. This could be expressed by looking at that loved one’s pictures with the lyrics saying, “I’ve been looking so long at these pictures of you/ That I almost believe that they’re real/ I’ve been living so long with my pictures of you/ That I almost believe that the pictures/ Are all I can feel”. Then, goes on to the reminiscing of the beautiful memories which are best captured in the lines in the second stanza that go, “And we kissed as the sky fell in/ Holding you close/ How I always held close in your fear/ Remembering you running softly through the night” suggesting just how close the two were then in the third stanza, remembering how painful the loss was with the lines, “Lost in the cold/ You were always so lost in the dark/ Remembering you how you used to be.” This kind of dreadful feeling almost always leads to feelings of regret just like in the succeeding stanza which says, “If only I’d thought of the right words/ I could have held on to your heart/ If only I’d thought of the right words/ I wouldn’t be breaking apart.”

With all the sadness expressed in this song, it somehow ends with a wanting or a hope that someday the pain goes away and this is expressed in the closing lines of the song that says, “There was nothing in the world/ That I ever wanted more/ Than to never feel the breaking apart”. This faint spark of hope, however small, is what makes Pictures of You a poignant song which strikes true to the heart.