the_gneech | Pictures of You, by Oingo Boingo

"Pictures of You," by Oingo Boingo

Pictures of you...

It's just pictures of you
through the bedroom door
With that sly little grin
says you want it some more
But there's people around
and they don't look so nice
Tell me why don't they move
this has happened before
This has happened before...
It's just pictures of you...
In darkness

Pictures of you...

I'd been sleeping for hours
when you came to my house
You'd been lost in a crowd
said you had to get out
You were covered with tears
and you said you were sad
So you wanted to play
Yes, you wanted to play...

Well you touched me and smiled
as you let yourself go
Oh, but something was wrong
'cause your touch was so cold
Like you'd been in the ground
and you asked if you could stay
And I said No!
It's just pictures of you...
In darkness

Pictures of you...

In that lovely white dress
oh your skin was so white
With the moon in your eyes
on that cold winter night
When your lips were so soft
that I thought they would melt
And the sound of your breath
and the way that you felt
And I said yes...
And I said yes...

It's just pictures of you
with a knife in your hand
With a rose in your teeth
lying nude in the sand
It's just pictures of you
standing high on a cliff
With the wind in your hair
and a smile on your lips
And your eyes were so wild
when you started to laugh
Blending in with the wind
sounded just like a scream...
Why do pictures of you
come to me when I dream?
In darkness

Pictures of you...
Pictures of you...
Pictures of you...

-The Gneech

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I have tremendous respect for Danny Elfman's musical scores and signing. The Nightmare Before Christmas comes to mind, which is to me a good musical.

But, in the limited exposure I've had to Oingo Boingo, I've had difficulty developing an affinity for it. This is my problem, not theirs, obviously. I acquired an album expecting to enjoy it. Ah, well.

===|==============/ Level Head

Arrrgh. A bizarre picture in my mind of Elfman on stage doing the song "What's This? (Christmastown)".... in Amerslan.

That was supposed to be "singing", not "signing". :/

Speaking of signing, I did not see Weird Al at ComicCon -- but I did meet Larry Niven. With "Ringworld" in one pocket and "La Vida Pantera" in the other, I was ready for either or both artists, but obtained the autograph of only one.

I now have three fiction writers' autographs in my collection:
John "The Gneech" Robey
James R. Lane
Larry Niven

An auspicious start.

===|==============/ Level Head

===|==============/ Level Head

Which album was it? The last two were kinda wastes of time, IMO...

-The Gneech

It has been several years. Perhaps it was called simply "Oingo". I fought to avoid having the lyrics lodge deeply... Something about slicing open a young woman's belly... and the dubious line "standing here with my dick in my hand, waiting at the gates of the Promised Land".

They were/are popular, I know. Perhaps a different album would have better showcased Elfman's talents.

And I have heard worse lyrics. : /

===|==============/ Level Head

???

That's very unlike any Oingo Boingo I've ever heard. Even their raunchiest songs aren't graphic. "Wild Sex In the Working Class" uses nothing but metaphor:

I may be greasing the wheels
of a noisy factory
Or I may be hunched over
metal machines

Watching the gears
as they move
just reminds me
of bodies in motion
the sweat and the sound

makes me think of
Wild sex! (In the working class)
After five, it's a gas...

Their last album, "Boingo," was hardly typical; there was plenty on there that I only listened to once before tossing it, so I suppose it could have been on that one. It was basically Danny Elfman's attempt to remake the White Album, and, with all due respect, blew chunks.

They did have a much earlier album called "BOI-NGO," which is miles above "Boingo," but didn't have anything like what you quoted. The only thing that comes close might be "Elevator Man," which is risque, but not graphically so:

Who's going down?
Who's going down?
Who's going down?

I ride my elevator
Through the shafts of your heart
When you climb aboard baby
There's no getting off
I'm a silent operator
won't you please take my hand
I'm so polite
I'm the elevator man

Who's going down
who's comin with me
Who wants to take a chance
On a piece of abstract reality
It's only just a dance
Won't you come and ride
with the elevator man

Who's goin down yeah
moving slow without a sound
Who's going down?
Who's going down?
Who's going down?

Say goodbye to hate
say goodbye to love
say goodbye to the world
that you used to know above
Say goodbye to your momma
and your daddy too
We're going to a place
that you never even knew

Friction and harmony
who's gonna ride with me
Far across the ocean
to a castle made of sand

Who's going down?
Who's going down?
Who's going...?

Yeah, there's innuendo there, but most of their songs are about broader topics than the standard "Baby I Love You" of most pop fare. I'd recommend picking up "Dead Man's Party," "Good For Your Soul," or "Danny Elfman: So-Lo" before you rule Oingo Boingo a wash. :) FWIW, initially I was put off by their music ... it was their lyrics that caught and held my attention.

There's razors in my bed
that come out late at night
they always disappear
before the morning light

I'm dreaming again
of life underground
it doesn't ever move
it doesn't make a sound

But there's a smile
on my face for everyone
there's a golden coin
that reflects the sun

there's a lonely place
that's always cold
there's a place in the stars
for when you get old...

Or such radical ideas as...

There's nothing wrong
with capitalism
there's nothing wrong
with free enterprise

don't try to make me
feel guilty
so tired of hearing
you cry...

...or here's one that could have been written for you! ;)

Reptiles and Samurai
Inhabit my head
Invading my dreams
Sleeping in my bed
They battle but they never die

They hear what I hear
Watching thru my eyes
They don't like what they see

Reptiles have silly grins
Dark eyes...
shiny teeth...
some have fins!

Samurai they smile never
Serious...
pretty swords...
very clever!

Reptiles and Samurai
Are under my skin
They hide in my mind
They speak with my tongue
They run amok in my terrain

They are not friends
But they are forced reluctantly
To share my brain

Sometimes I watch you from
this place way in the sky
Your faces young and shiny
transform right before my eyes

Without warning...
without reason...
To Samurai and lizards
reptiles and Samurai
Samurai and lizards
Reptiles and Samurai...

Well, anyway, I didn't mean to go all wacky about Oingo Boingo at you, but I do think you may have been hasty in your initial assessment. If you'd like, I'd be happy to send a few tapes your way. (I have extras!)

-The Gneech

To the best of my recollection, none of those lyrics were represented on the album I had.

"Boingo" was probably it. Very large letters, white on mostly black background as I recall.

I was amused by your referral. "Hey, here's a song about an insane delusional nutcase. Sounds just like you!" (I'm kidding...)

"Some have fins" -- Certainly the Icthyosaurs, Pleisiosaurs and cousins did. Marine iguanas have a tail ridge used in swimming (rather modest). If you ever do a comic involving Icthyosaurs, we now know what color one species was. A very nice reddish brown, sort of a "deep rust"... (Sorry, wandering...)

In any event, I'd be pleased to try other albums. Thanks! I have no difficulty with sexual allusions; it's innuendo, out the other. ;)

===|==============/ Level Head

I was amused by your referral. "Hey, here's a song about an insane delusional nutcase. Sounds just like you!" (I'm kidding...)

No, no, no, that's not what I meant at all! :P -TG

I think my favourite Oingo Boingo track is "Flesh N' Blood". (It's on the Ghostbusters II soundtrack... which was wretched on the whole - much like the movie? I don't know if it's on any of their albums.)

Yeh know, there's "Pictures of You" by The Cure too... and there's a Green Day song "Scattered", where Billy Joe's doing the same thing Robert Smith is (looking at old pictures of a former lover and reliving memories) - except in a much faster and more upbeat fashion. ;) I'm sure there's a myriad of other songs along that theme.

Interesting, the things that we all share and can relate to, eh?

.Rae

You've give me even more CDs to put on my wish-list! And Oingo Boingo aren't even availble here in Norway.

Spoot!

I had no idea Danny Elfman actually played in a band, btw. Interesting. Next thing you know, and Andrew Lloyd Webber will be playing in a punk band or whatnot.

-- Miles Baxxter

Not even via Amazon or the like? -TG

Do they ship world-wide?

I might have to pay customs though, if I did that, not to mention a possibly hefty shipping rate.

Lucky Americans...

-- Miles Baxxter

Pictures of You, by Oingo Boingo

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Oingo Boingo

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Darn you! >_<

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Re: Darn you! >_<