Photographic

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Photographic
Song	Photographic
By	Depeche Mode
Songwriter	Vince Clarke
Produced by	Depeche Mode Daniel Miller
Recorded at	Blackwing Studios (London)
Length (mm:ss)	4:44
Tempo	148 BPM
Time signature	4 4
Key	A Major
Engineered by	Eric Radcliffe John Fryer
Originally released	6 November 1981
Live performances as Depeche Mode	365 times *
Total live performances	365 times *

"Photographic" is a song from the 1981 album Speak & Spell by Depeche Mode.

Notes

There are four versions of this song:

1. A demo version recorded by Vince Clarke around May or June 1980; a snippet of this version is available to listen to below.
2. A demo version recorded by Depeche Mode around June, July or August 1980; this entire demo version is available to listen to below.
3. A version of Photographic for the Some Bizarre compilation album around November 1980. According to the album artwork, this version of Photographic for the Some Bizzare album was recorded at Stage One recording studios, owned by John Bassett, located at 14 Sebert Road, Forest Gate, London E7 0NP.
4. A version of Photographic for DM's first album Speak & Spell in early 1981. The album version was recorded at Blackwing Studios.

Demo versions

Vince Clarke demo

A one-minute, 30-second snippet from Vince's original demo for this track can be heard below:

Three other tracks from this demo tape are available to listen to here.

Depeche Mode demo

The second demo version of this track, with Dave Gahan on vocals, appears on the Summer 1980 demo tape. You can listen to the entire track below:

Lyrics

Photographic

A white house, a white room

The program of today

Lights on, switch on

Your eyes are far away

The map represents you

And the tape is your voice

Follow all along you

Till you recognize the choice

I take pictures

Photographic pictures

Bright light

Dark room

Bright light

Dark room

I said I'd write a letter

But I never got the time

And I'm looking to the day

I mesmerise the light

The years I spend just thinking

Of a moment we both knew

A second boss looking into

It seems it can't be true

Songwriter: Vince Clarke
Publishing Information: ©1981 Musical Moments Ltd./Sony Music Publishing Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Live performances

Main article: Available recordings of "Photographic"

Main article: List of dates where "Photographic" was played

Live versions

This section provides an example of a live version of Photographic from each tour that it was played.

• Play 1980 Tour: 1980-11-14 Technical College, Southend-On-Sea, Essex, England, UK
• Play 1981 Tour: 1981-06-11 Richard Skinner Session, BBC Radio 1, London, England, UK
• Play 1982 See You Tour: 1982-02-21 Tiffany's, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
• Play 1982-1983 A Broken Frame Tour: 1983-05-28 Euro Festival, Vechtewiese, Schüttorf, Germany
• Play 1983-1984 Construction Time Again Tour: 1983-10-08 Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, UK
• Play 1984-1985 Some Great Reward Tour: 1984-11-02 Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, UK
• Play 1986 Black Celebration Tour: 1986-06-24 St. Paul Civic Center, St. Paul, MN, USA
• Play 2005-2006 Touring The Angel: 2006-06-04 Rock Am Ring, Nurburgring, Germany
• Play 2009-2010 Tour Of The Universe: 2010-02-17 Royal Albert Hall, London, England, UK

Trivia

• As of 2024, Photographic and Just Can't Get Enough are the only Depeche Mode songs performed live which feature keyboard performances from former members Vince Clarke and Alan Wilder during their respective periods of membership with Depeche Mode, as well as from live touring musician Peter Gordeno who has been part of the live line-up since the 1998 The Singles Tour.
  • Tangentially, Just Can't Get Enough is the only Depeche Mode song to feature live backing vocal performances during the choruses and harmonies from each musician for their respective time with the band. For Photographic, Vince Clarke and Alan Wilder contributed live vocals, whereas Peter Gordeno did not for live performances of the song he was involved with during the 2005-2006 Touring The Angel and 2009-2010 Tour Of The Universe.
    • During live performances, Vince Clarke and Alan Wilder both whispered "I take pictures / photographic pictures" and sang the "bright light / dark room" for the chorus, whereas Martin Gore provided the backing vocals for the verses. For the 2005-2006 Touring The Angel and 2009-2010 Tour Of The Universe live performances, Martin sang all backing vocal parts.