This song was written during a songwriters workshop given by Lori Carson in October 2002 at The Orient Inn on the North Fork of Long Island. The song came from an exercise in which the phrase "A photograph of the two of us" was used to trigger memories as a means of inspiring lyrics. Each of us who attended the workshop recorded our songs individually and we released a CD as a collective effort. My song was recorded at home on a Yamaha MD-8 MiniDisc 8 track machine. All vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, drums & Chapman Stick by Chuck Padgett.
Somewhere in a photobox or an album
There's a picture of us
Filed away in a bookcase or a closet
There's a picture of us
Someone in a previous life with a camera
Took a picture of us
I wanted a copy but I never saw it
The picture of us
We're still together somewhere
But it isn't here
A split second recorded forever
From that memorable year
Somebody told us to get in the frame
I thought I'd be glad when the print finally came
But I never obtained what would have become
Just a bittersweet souvenir
Some seventeen years slipped away now I'm trapped on an island
In a picture of us
The subjects have changed but the story's the same in the caption
For the picture of us
A diner at breakfast you held out your hand with a camera
Took a picture of us
I wanted a copy but I never saw it
The picture of us
We're still together somewhere
But it isn't here
A split second recorded forever
From this memorable year
You held out your camera so we'd fit in the frame
I thought I'd be glad when the print finally came
But I never obtained what would have become
Just a bittersweet souvenir
It's no wonder I'm camera shy
Can't look the camera square in the eye
Especially when someone is there by my side
Reminding me something has died
The way things worked out it's probably best I don't have it
A picture of us
If I had one to look at I don't think that I could enjoy it
A picture of us
Instead of the good I'd remember the bad if I saw it
A picture of us
I think if I had one I'd probably want to destroy it
A picture of us
We're still together somewhere
But it isn't here
A split second recorded forever
From some miserable year
In a flash something changed it was never the same
I thought I'd be glad when the print finally came
But I never obtained what would have become
Just a bittersweet souvenir