Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)

In a Songfacts interview with A Flock Of Seagulls frontman Mike Score, he explained the meaning behind this song. "'Wishing' is about a real person," he said. "It was the eve of the first trip we ever took to America, and I had met a girl. We went out for the night, and I didn't want to forget her, so I said, 'We're going on tour and I'll be back. I'd like to get a photograph of you, if I could get one.' And she said, 'No, because you're going to go on to be famous and you'll forget me.' I had this little riff, so when I had some time and I was thinking about that, I just started singing the words I was thinking to that riff, and 'Wishing' was born. And then, as soon as I had the chance, I went and demoed it in the studio. I think it was about two years later that we actually recorded it." This all sounds like the first half of a romantic comedy, but it didn't have a movie ending: Score never saw her again.

Thanks to MTV, in the US, A Flock Of Seagulls is known almost exclusively for "I Ran (So Far Away)," but they did score two other Top 40 hits in the States, this and "Space Age Love Song." "Wishing" was their biggest hit in their native UK. The group is from Liverpool - home of The Beatles.

Def Leppard, Ringo Starr and Nickelback have all recorded songs called "Photograph" where the singer must make do with a photo because he can't get the girl. In this song, the singer wishes he had a photograph of the girl, as somehow this will give him comfort.