Photographer's Lament

Tom Atwood

Genre: Folk (contemporary)

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Description

A meditation on b & w photography in 5/4

Photo: Sally, 1981

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Lyrics

Photographs on the wall
Faces I have captured
What do they see (their graphite eyes)
Or do they see at all?

Expressions in a pause
Faces I have captured
Souls who once flashed before me
Framed in my because.

And ever they gaze
The way they never were
And forever will be.
I have captured faces
Fleshed in shades of gray.

Song Stats

Hits: 2820
Comments: 14
Fans: 10
Plays: 304
Downloads: 133
Votes: 18
Uploaded: Jan 21, 2005 - 03:11:11 PM
Last Updated: Jan 22, 2005 - 05:02:17 PM Last Played: Oct 06, 2009 - 09:10:00 AM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Song Actions

Comments

Peter Greenstone	Peter Greenstone said 1768 days ago (January 21st, 2005)
	Read this on your site Hey, I remember reading this on your website. Nice photos and poetry. Well, this works very nicely as a song. Nothing critical to add. Sounds very good. Me like. Check out my latest song called From Nothing

Tom Atwood	Tom Atwood said 1768 days ago (January 21st, 2005)
	Read this on your site Thanks. You are right--it is a poem I wrote years ago put to music. Not the way I usually write songs. I appreciate the kind words. Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

SlimGirlFat	SlimGirlFat said 1768 days ago (January 21st, 2005)
	Beautiful what a wonderfiul track you have here. Lovely harmonies and melody Excellent SlimGirlFat Check out my latest song called Not Enough

Tom Atwood	Tom Atwood said 1768 days ago (January 21st, 2005)
	Beautiful Thanks SGF Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

TobinMueller	TobinMueller said 1768 days ago (January 21st, 2005)
	Snapshots of the past This reminds me of a wonderful song by Stephen Schwartz called "Snapshots." Photographs can indeed be a wonderful source of reverie as well as melancholy, captured very well in this straighforward, honest, wonderful track. Check out my latest song called Forge A New Life (MJRF)

Tom Atwood	Tom Atwood said 1767 days ago (January 22nd, 2005)
	Snapshots of the past It is a strange feeling when old snapshots, at some point, become historical photographs. Especially photos of friends and family. Melancholy, mixed with affection. Thanks, Tobin. Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

mars	mars said 1768 days ago (January 22nd, 2005)
	Sweet Sweet voice, sweet melody, and sweet harmonies. Great guitar too. I really enjoyed. Thank you for sharing. Check out my latest song called Spin (Live Jan.20)

Nolan	Nolan said 1767 days ago (January 22nd, 2005)
	Beautiful song I love this. Acoustic and harmonies: my favourite. Great picking, wonderful harmonies. The overall sound is spot- on. Check out my latest song called Fine

Joanna	Joanna said 1767 days ago (January 22nd, 2005)
	Love the lyrics Beautiful, poetic lyrics. Well done! Check out my latest song called Nellie G.

Cameron

Cameron said 1765 days ago (January 24th, 2005)

conversational
I like the free and loose way you sing this song, almost
like you are having a conversation sitting at a table,
flipping through your album of b&w photos as you
describe each one.

Perhaps it is the 5/4 meter which imitates the irregular
rhythms of conversation.

Nice harmonies and chord progressions, especially at the
ends of phrases.

I would have repeated the last line "fleshed in shades of
gray" a couple less times, though (unless you had faded it
out gradually, which would have worked nicely).

You created a mellow, contemplative atmosphere on this
track which is very pleasing to the ears and the soul.

Check out my latest song called EPONYM

Tom Atwood	Tom Atwood said 1765 days ago (January 24th, 2005)
	conversational Thanks for the careful listen. I may have gotten a little carried away repeating 'fleshed in shades of gray' over and over. It almost starts to feel like a chant, or a mantra, which was kind of cool to sing, but may become a little annoying to the listener. Good point. Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

Suzanne

Suzanne said 1761 days ago (January 28th, 2005)

effortlessness and intimate
if you hadn't of mentioned this was in 5/4, i wouldn't have noticed. so smooth. as someone who could never play acoustic fingerpicking and just gave up (i have to use a pick), i marvel at the effortlessness and intimacy of your right hand. will you tell us who Sally is? and i like the metaphor of "shades of gray", the double meaning. don't think i would have caught it without the repeats, so keep them in!

Check out my latest song called Rock The Baby With Voodoo (w/Tobin)

Tom Atwood

Tom Atwood said 1760 days ago (January 29th, 2005)

effortlessness and intimate
Thanks, Suzanne, for your comments. After 30 years, I still cannot play with a pick, so I am forced to fingerpick. It is the only way I have ever played. (My kids make fun of the long fingernails on my right hand.)

As for your question about the photo--it is a photograph I took of my wife in 1981, shortly before we were married.

Thanks again!

Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

EdensEve	EdensEve said 1727 days ago (March 4th, 2005)
	Right scheme One compliment to add to the others: I like the rhyming scheme, the way it has one short and then a long phrase, making it seem more natural, less sing-songy, like a song like this could become. You are the real deal, Mr. Atwood.

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Artist Info

Name: Tom Atwood

I guess I could be a 'poster child' for MacJams. I joined the site on New Year's Eve 2004, after several years of not making much music at all. A long dry spell. Since then, I have posted more than 50 songs here, collaborated with some wonderful arti... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

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