Song Lyric Sunday Theme for 09/09/2018

Helen’s prompt for this week is “picture/photograph” and you can see all the great entries here.

As befits my age, and the music that is stored forever (I hope) in my brain, I am offering you a song by The Who, recorded in 1967.

It is a song about a young man, supposedly having difficulty sleeping, so his father gives him some pictures to hang on his bedroom wall. This helps him to sleep, and he falls in love with the girl in the pictures (Lillie Langtry). He is devastated when his father tells him that she died in 1929.

As with so many songs there are those who see hidden meanings in the lyrics. In this case it is postulated that the song alludes to the predilection of young men to masturbate!

For your entertainment I give you: Pictures of Lily

A poor quality video, as they all were then, but here is a 2015 version to compare. The 2 remaining artists aren’t doing too badly are they!

“Pictures Of Lily”

I used to wake up in the morning
I used to feel so bad
I got so sick of having sleepless nights
I went and told my dad
He said “son now here’s some little something”
And stuck them on my wall
And now my nights seem quite so lonely
In fact I, I don’t feel bad at all
I don’t feel bad at all

Pictures of Lily
Made my life so wonderful
Pictures of Lily
Helped me sleep at night
Pictures of Lily
Solved my childhood problem
Pictures of Lily
Helped me feel alright

Pictures of Lily
Lily, Oh Lily
Lily, Oh Lily
Pictures of Lily

And then one day things weren’t quite so fine
I fell in love with Lily
I asked my dad where Lily I could find
He said “son now don’t be silly
She’s been dead since 1929″
Oh how I cried that night
If only I’d been born in Lily’s time
It would have been alright

Pictures of Lily
Made my life so wonderful
Pictures of Lily
Helped me sleep at night
Pictures of Lily
But me and Lily are together in my dreams
And I ask ya, “Hey mister have ya ever seen?”
Pictures of Lily!

Writer(s): TOWNSHEND PETER DENNIS BLANDFOR