Ray Davies wrote this about the nostalgic feel that comes from looking through photo albums.
This song was used on a Hewlett-Packard commercial promoting their digital cameras and printers that featured numerous "Pictures Of You" superimposed with each other. It was a rare case of a song meaning that went very well with the commercial. The ad campaign was named "Campaign Of The Year" in 2004 by Adweek magazine.
Along with Village Green's closing track "People Take Pictures of Each Other," this song uses photography to drive home the album's concept about holding onto and appreciating the past. "There's more value in an old picture than there is now on iPhones," Ray Davies told Rolling Stone in 2018. "I know a guy. He's homeless and I chat with him sometimes in the street. He's got a picture of his family in his pocket, and he's always got a picture with him, he says, 'For when things get really low'" (pause) "It's all gotten cheaper because of iPhones."
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