Awake on my airplane
Awake on my airplane
My skin is bare
My skin is theirs
Awake on my airplane
Awake on my airplane
My skin is bare
My skin is theirs

I feel like a newborn

Awake on my airplane
Awake on my airplane
I feel so real

Could you wanna take my picture?
'Cause I won't remember
Could you wanna take my picture?
'Cause I won't remember
Yeah

I don't believe in
I don't believe in
Your sanctity
Your privacy
I don't believe in
I don't believe in
Sanctity
A hypocrisy

Could everyone agree that
No one should be left alone?
And I feel like a newborn

Kicking and screaming

Could you wanna take my picture?
'Cause I won't remember
Could you wanna take my picture?
'Cause I won't remember
Yeah

Hey, Dad
What do you think about your son now?
Ah, hey, Dad
What do you think about your son now?

Could you wanna take my picture?
'Cause I won't remember
Could you wanna take my picture?
'Cause I won't remember
Could you wanna take my picture?
'Cause I won't remember
Yeah


Lyrics submitted by jstalilwyrd

Take A Picture Lyrics as written by Richard Michael Patrick

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Take A Picture song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

96 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +12
    General Comment

    Lyrics have at least two meanings. The first is the intended meaning of the songwriter. I think there's a lot of evidence that meaning is about Richard Patrick getting drunk on a plane, stripping and having it photographed and sent to his father, with a sub-text of what it means to be famous.

    But the second meaning of a lyric is what it means to the person who values the song. Sometimes that second meaning is close to the intended meaning. But sometimes this personal meaning goes off in another direction. A lot of poets and songwriters insist that personal meanings are as important as original intended meaning.

    I find a lot of posts at this site are actually people sharing their personal meaning, even if they don't distinguish between the two meanings. Here's my personal meaning for this song.

    When I hear this song or watch the video, I experience intense nostalgia. I don't mean just remembering some period in the past fondly. I'm talking an existential connection between the me of the present moment and a time of my life that is gone where I experience a deep spiritual and emotional nexus that combines both remembering what what was real and intense loss because it no longer is real and is no longer experienced and not fully remembered. This, for me, is both soul piercing sadness and elevating joy at the same time. I very much want to feel this but it also very much hurts to feel it.

    Three things really activate this intense state. Scent, music and images. For instance the smell of cut grass on a hot day takes me right back to my teenage years while not taking me fully enough back, thus I have this experience.

    The music of this song, now over a decade later, has this powerful effect on me. It's like a magic spell activating the time period when my adult sons were teenagers and we were evolving from them liking my music to me liking theirs. But the words, for me, have a personal meaning that is all about this nostalgia.

    You see when that past was present I was "Awake" to it, My skin was "bare" to it, even belonging to it, being "theirs," all that was around me including the other people who were there. Here's something weird about this experience. It doesn't matter if back then it was a good or bad experience, it didn't matter if what was happening to me was due to others' scorn or hypocrisy or sanctity. I was awake to it all and now I'm not. Then it was "real" and I was "newborn" into that reality, but now it's gone.

    So what I needed to make it somehow real now is a picture, a storing of the moment, because "I won't remember" it fully, it will be lost fully. Thus I will have this nostalgia.

    A lot of nostalgia like this for me is a mix of either when I was a child/youth, in which a vital part of my life was relating to my parents, or when my children were young, in which a vital part of my lfie was relating as a parent. Either way the refrain "Hey dad what do you think of your son now" captures all that, both of them, even though I'm a woman. The entire experience includes the then and the now and what would my dad then think now of me his daughter and what do I now think now about my son(s) then.

    So that's my personal meaning of the song. I think it is congruent with the original meaning about a specific moment in Richard Patrick's life, because I think he also realized the same existential nexus between that specific moment and the rest of his existence afterwards. But even if it's just my personal meaning, it's still my personal meaning.

    LibWingofLibWingon May 14, 2012   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere. In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Album art
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version. Great version of a great song,
Album art
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.