The Cure: Pictures of You Meaning

Song Released: 1990

Pictures of You Lyrics

i've been looking so long at these pictures of
you that i almost belive that they're real i've
been living so long with my pictures of you that
i almost believe that the pictures are all i can
feel

remembering you standing quiet in the rain as
i...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jul 3rd 2011 !⃝

   I listen to this song almost everyday. it's one of my favorites and not until a few weeks ago did I come to a conclusion on what I thought the song lyrics meant. I believe the song is about a suicide, at least to me that's what it means. It's him remembering someone he loved after they left.
   "You screamed at the make believe, screamed at the sky, and you finally found all your courage to let it all go" is why I think it's suicide in particular instead of just death.
   The cause of death? It could have been depression "Remembering you fallen into my arms, crying for the death of your heart" - that seems like the person was depressed, and just couldn't keep living. Also "You were always so lost in the dark".
   It also seems like the lyricist is blaming himself for the death of his loved one "If only I'd thought of the right words, I could've held on to your heart."
   
   Whether this interperatation is right or not is completely up the opinion. I really love this song though and this is what it means to me :)

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Aug 18th 2013 !⃝

   Simply put, it's a song about regret and loss. It seems to apply to a sad depressed death, maybe a suicide, but it could also be the end of a close relationship where one or the other came to the point of finally walking away, leaving the partner to their regrets.
   
   It's a beautiful song though, and a most popular and expected at any Cure concert. The band as whole comes together melodically, the guitar feels like a dove picking apart at your soul, especially if one shares in these regrets in some form or another.
   
   Personally, I dont see how this song couldnt move a person emotionally.
3. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jul 24th 2020 !⃝

   When we leave the person we love, the only thing that we have is our memory,captured in photos.
   Pictures of you is about how painful it is to remember the precious moments you cherished. It hurts to look at the photos, you’re breaking apart cause you feel that you should have thought of the right words. Just to make it work. Just to stay with the person you truly loved, yet lost.
   
4. daddylonglegs

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Sep 15th 2019 !⃝

   The song is about a person that is in love but dose not know how to tell the other person.
5. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Aug 4th 2019 !⃝

   You need pictures in your mind to talk . So when your with someone you love the pictures are off love.
6. kooljohn176

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Oct 22nd 2017 !⃝

   Eversince I heard this one of a kind great gothic rock songs, could make one always cry. With THE CURE, being very emphatetic in thought, when and about seeing the ''Pictures Of You''. In that You are embedded with deep emotional lament. Wherefore still having that genuine moments of love spend together that You don't wanna let go of. That's The Lost Loved One that for some reason needed to be away from You and apart of this world.
7. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Sep 3rd 2017 !⃝

   To me as a severly depressed person and one who has been suicidal/had suicidal thoughts etc.....this sounds like someone who is/has severe depression and can no longer bare the overwhelming emotional pain and mental torment so decides to end it all by killing themself.
8. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jul 14th 2014 !⃝

   It's about depression and drug use that led to overdose.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
9. voiceofreason

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Mar 26th 2014 !⃝

   I've battled religion since I was a child. Recently I began to question my beliefs and I came to realize I choose science. For me, it means letting go of my past beliefs and finally being free - screamed at the sky. Letting go of a deity that had such an impact on me is like a parent or sibling dying. Letting go of all the false information and finally being liberated. Original sin and eternal torment equals psychological distress by creating the ultimate double bind. Salvation is not a free gift after all.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
10. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Mar 25th 2012 !⃝

    I think like most rock songs it is about her slipping deeper into drug addiction.
11. Kermunklin

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Nov 12th 2011 !⃝

    Nice interpretation, anonymous. I had never thought about it like that. Certainly a song of loss, I always imagined it as something along the lines of "Boys Don't Cry" in that it was from the point of view of someone whom, through hubris, carelessness, or neglect, lost a girlfriend, wife, good friend etc, and now misses them very much. Absolutely a fantastic song, also very much like the version on Mixed-Up. The warbly, dubbed out bassline seems to go with mood very well.

Latest Articles

• 
  A new era for Millennial favorite, Linkin Park
• 
  Anime to watch for the soundtracks… and other reasons you’re undateable
• 
  Dolly, we need you
• 
  The Stranger Things Effect: How new media is drawing Gen Z and Alpha's attention to aging media
• 
  The most underrated soundtrack of the early 2000s
• 
  Buy the Soundtrack, Skip the Movie: Brainscan (1994)