Paul Simon: Kodachrome Meaning
Song Released: 1973
Kodachrome Lyrics
On all the crap I learned in high school
Its a wonder
I can think at all
And though my lack of edu---cation
Hasnt hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall
Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:This is clearly about the way we seem to color our memories in our own unique way. Ask your friends about an event you shared, say, five years ago,(not when you were all zonked out of your heads, but a sober memory) and watch what happens. Simon seems to think that Kodachrome is a nice, little, invention and has fun with that. But needs us to know that there is no comparison between our imagination and a technique developed by Mr. Eastman. If we all had photographic memories life would be intolerable. It is only through our own imagination- the colors we choose to paint our own memories with- that they become vivid and alive. Photographs are dull and two dimensional- they may as well all be black and white, thereby making the invention unnecessary. It is only in the photo albums that exist in our minds that the greens are greener and the days sunnier.
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2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:The first thing that needs to be understood is that narrator equates hard-work reality as Black and White, and carefree immaturity as Kodachrome, and we clearly know which one he prefers. Because "Everything looks worse in black and white" we know that he much prefers, in contrast, "the greens of summer" when school was out.
In the 2nd stanza, the narrator seemingly escapes the drudgery and failure of school with his Nikon camera. A camera, by the way, that "Makes you think all the world's a sunny day". That is to say, that even those days that aren't sunny can be made sunny with a camera. A hard life, when viewed through the lens of camera, can look to be much more colorful, pleasurable and interesting.
However, most photographers will admit that they consider themselves distant and detached observers of the static objects of their photography, or more of a chronicler or a journalist than a participant. Perhaps even a manipulator of reality. But when they lower the camera, the ever-moving black-and-white world re-emerges. So while the stanza seems cheery, in actuality we’re witness to the narrator’s sad self-delusion. A cheery self-delusion so addictive that he pleads to keep his camera.
The two most curious lines are the ones that end the first and second stanzas:
"I can read the writing on the wall"
and
"So mama don't take my Kodachrome away"
Regarding curious line #1: What, exactly, is the writing on the wall that the narrator understands so well, and even dreads? Does he understand that because he lacks a good education that his prospects are both few and dim despite the fact that, up to this point, his "lack of education hasn't hurt [him] none?" Are those carefree days numbered? Indeed, someone is, in fact, intent on taking his camera -- his escape -- away, which will then force him to face the hard unpleasant black-and-white realities of life.
Which leads us to curious line #2. Clearly he's pleading for someone not to take his camera away, which represents his carefree and constant "greens of summer" happiness. After all, the "greens of summer” soon enough become the browns of winter, except, of course, in a photograph. But who is this camera-taking "mama" and why does she want to take his camera?
In the third stanza, the narrator says "...when I was single", so we know that he is married. (At the time of the album’s release Simon had been married for four years. But considering the first stanza, I think we can dismiss any notion that the song is autobiographical.) I think we can now assume that this "mama" is the narrator’s wife who is perhaps pressuring him to get a job and settle down? Furthermore, the use of the word “mama” insinuates fatherhood – maybe even first-time fatherhood and all of its new responsibilities and hard realities. In fact, Simon’s first child, Harper, was born the year before the album’s release, so fatherhood, and paternal responsibilies, would be foremost in Simon’s mind.
Is this camera-less, black-and-white fatherhood fate the "writing on the wall" he dreads in the first stanza? Is the "writing on the wall", in fact, a ballooning pregnancy? And is the camera-taking “mama” really the concept and prospects fatherhood. If so, it would then serve to link the two apparently disparate stanzas together.
In the third stanza, which is yet another disparate break from the first two stanzas, we find out that he still frequently thinks about all the girls he knew in the past, or his former lovers, and absurdly imagines reuniting them all together for one night of mad crazy passion. However, he knows (and correctly so) that the black-and-white reality of such a night would never measure up to the crazy Kodachrome fantasy he's concocted in his mind. Indeed, he recognizes that his fantasy Kodachrome life is just that -- an absurd fantasy. Although it looks worse in black-and-white, it is, in fact, reality.
There is some optimism in his voice in the last line when he says that everything "looks" worse in black-and-white, or interpreted differently, “only appears” to be worse, giving him some hope to believe that looking worse doesn't necessarily mean that it is worse.
Taken together, what we're seeing is a young man who made irresponsible choices regarding his education and he's now heading into the stage of his life where he needs to find a job, settle down, and embrace imminent fatherhood, and although his lack of education hasn't hurt him to this point, he knows that's all about to change.
While he's still valiantly (maybe, foolishly) fighting this transition from immaturity into maturity, from adolescence into adulthood, he is beginning to realize the absurdity of continuing to believe in the immature fantasy, and he is now willing to accept the black-and-white reality and move forward with a hint of optimism.
In the two subsequent albums where the song is included -- The Concert in Central Park and Paul Simon's Concert in the Park, August 15, 1991 – the last line is changed to "Everything looks better in black and white". This is not an insignificant change. Reflecting Simon’s own maturity, now the narrator has lived in his black-and-white reality for a while and has discovered that reality, as hard and unforgiving as it is, is in fact infinitely better than keeping yourself immersed in an immature and irresponsible fantasy life.
Buried deep in the repeating refrain of mama don’t take my Kodachrome is the enigmatic line
Leave your boy so far from home
I doubt this line has any significant meaning. I think Simon simply liked the seven hard-beat single-syllable words that make up the line, with the last three words rhyming with Kodachrome. The Beatles were similarly known to hide enigmatic lines within refrains, and perhaps Simon was just picking that trick up and applying it here.
A would be remiss to not mention contrasting interpretations of the song’s lyrics. The two most interesting are:
(1) Kodachrome represents Playboy magazines – Playboy pictorials at the time were taken in Kodachrome film which produced lush, almost artificial colors. The meaning of the refrain "mama don’t take my Kodachrome" can be interpreted quite literally then. The narrator of the song, who was a poor to middling high school student, has now found himself addicted to his Playboy magazines, and in the last stanza he imagines “all the girls I knew”, or all the Playboy centerfolds, in one big sexual (and highly unlikely) fantasy orgy.
(2) Kodachrome was also the street name for a 70s brand of LSD. These lines take on a deeper meaning then:
Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don’t take my Kodachrome away
In this interpretation, the boxy Nikon camera he has represents the sugar cube with the LSD drop, and taking a photograph represents eating the sugar cube. The “nice bright colors”, of course, represent the surreal, hyper-intense colors associated with an acid trip. However, in this interpretation, the third stanza defies explanation.
These two interpretations are far-fetched. Taking Simon's body of work as a whole, these sorts of large sex and drug themes are largely missing. Overall, Simon’s work largely revolves around introspective personal journeys and sweet love songs, not masturbation and acid trips -
Masturbation. This is obvious when you listen to the song after knowing it’s true meaning.
This song is about a married man who’s mama has moved in with them. His mama discovered his dirty little secret fetish of taking photos of women so that he can look at them when he masturbates. The color photos work better for him than his “sweet imagination “ but his mama is going to take his Kodachrome away to curtail his behavior. -
"Photography:brothels without walls"--Marshall McLuhan. All the girls that he knew when he was single are not girls he dated or copulated with. They are models in pornographic magazines, which in the fifties were only in black & white. It's a silly song that Mr. Simon would never tell the secret about. D.H. Lawrence, "Artists often lie."
I don't really care if you think this is absurd and that Simon has too much class to write a song about pornography. "I'd LOVE to take your photograph." My interpretation came from insight. Which is nothing like an educated guess.....The ending piano hysterics reflect the humor of the song's theme....THE END.... -
I think people might be over thinking it....Kodachrome is our memory....our camera is our imagination....Mom is authority....
I've always thought this song is about how we remember things better than they really were. "When I think about all the crap I learned in High School" - Growing up is crap - losing our innocence and ability to imagine anything is possible...."and although my lack of education hasn't hurt me none"....He didn't grow up and now he's writing music for a living....Kodachrome is a metaphor for our memories. 'My Nikon camera' is our imagination...and 'mama don't take my Kodachrome" is resisting authority and life taking over and making us cynical. If you brought all the girls I knew when I was single they wouldn't match the way I remember them! "Things look worse in Black and white' - when faced with reality, our memories are better than what they really were!
I've always thought this song is about resisting the best things we remember from when we were young....and trying to stay young as long as we can.... -
Humm I think the best thing to do is interview Paul Simon and ask HIM the meaning of the lyrics!!!! This will leave no doubt about what he was referring to.... Somebody please talk to this Artist... nuff said..
Richard Savacool -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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Let's start with the what we can know, From Wikipedia... "In an interview conducted in November 2008, Simon said that what he had in mind when writing the song was to call it "Going Home". However, finding this would have been "too conventional", he came up with "Kodachrome", because of its similar sound and larger innovative potential. He also refers to its first line as the "most interesting" part of the song."
So this is a song about going home. First stanza looks back at his high school education, and that in spite of it he is able to think for himself, in other words "Read the writing on the wall" (This phrase is from the biblical book of Daniel btw).
Second stanza talks about his memories, when he gets home he is going to see all the girls he knew and they are not going to look as good as he remembers, or as we like to say, in black and white.
So he would rather have his memories of his younger life in color, rather than in black and white.
It's not very deep, but it is a thoughtful song about aging, and how our memories of the past are perhaps better then what actually was the case. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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His imagination is more powerful than those photos ..."I know they would never match my sweet imagination"... you could line up a all those color pictures of all the girls from back in the day and they wouldn't match his Nikon "aka black and white imagination"
Bottom line the original lyrics were:
"Everything looks better in Black and White" The lyrics were changed due to a nice tip from the photo industry which was pushing Koadachrome film. -
simple...he hid his dope in the Kodachrome film cannister, just like everyone else did back then. Of course he didn't want his mama to take his dope away--DUH.
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That Nikon is a cube of LSD is preposterous.
Perhaps reading Susan Sontag on photography would help the above people understand the lyrics
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