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May 10, 2005

Picture Pairing: A Meme

Actually, before I take the day off for my birthday, let me suggest a meme to propogate while I'm gone:

Pair up a picture with a song that best describes the picture (or vice versa). "Best decribes" being open to interpretation -- it could literally describe what's going on in the picture, or it could be a piece of music that invokes a feeling you associate with the picture, or whatever. Also, you can just name the song, if you think it's something most people will recognize.

Here is my picture, and the song that goes with it:


"Over the Hillside" by The Blue Nile, from their album Hats.

Your turn.

Posted by john at May 10, 2005 01:39 AM

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Comments

iain | May 10, 2005 08:10 AM

I'll go with "Eleventh Earl of Mar," as the photo reminds me of the Genesis "Wind & Wuthering" album cover.

& I am old. So very very old.

Ellen | May 10, 2005 08:29 AM

This isn't related to the post; I hope you don't mind.

You may already know about this, but if not, Amazon has introduced a feature to its book pages called statistically improbable phrases, which are the distinctive phrases that occur more than expected in a particular book, more or less. Old Man's War has an interesting list:

slashing arms, stasis chamber, skip drives, your new body, platoon mates, skip distance, shuttle bay, firing solution, every recruit

two instincts | May 10, 2005 10:45 AM

Sounds like a good meme. Are we allowed to reverse it, and to try to take/find a picture that we think matches a certain song?

Douglas Hoffman | May 10, 2005 11:08 AM

Maybe not as potent a meme as, "Believe in this and you'll go to heaven," but a damned sight prettier, and far less dangerous.

And, Iain? You're not the only one old enough to remember "Eleventh Earl of Mar," so don't feel too bad. "Wind and Wuthering" was stellar (though I'm still partial to "Trick of the Tail").

Here's a link that has pictures of the album covers, too:

http://www.philcollinsfansite.com/genesis_discography.html

John Scalzi | May 10, 2005 11:12 AM

"Are we allowed to reverse it, and to try to take/find a picture that we think matches a certain song?"

I don't see why not.

Tim Walters | May 10, 2005 12:57 PM

On the Wind & Wuthering front, I think "Afterglow," or even "One For The Vine," goes better with the picture than "Eleventh Earl."

The first song that comes to my mind, though, is "Events In Dense Fog" by Brian Eno.

Brian Greenberg | May 10, 2005 01:12 PM

Oh, the possibilities:

-- Theme from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"
-- U2's The Joshua Tree
-- The theme from that Gregory Hines/Mikael Barishnikov movie (White Nights, I think?)
-- Billy Joel's "Scandanavian Skies"
-- "Morning Glow" from Broadway's Pippin

OK, now that I've hit show tunes, I'll stop...

Regan | May 10, 2005 01:14 PM

You guys are evil. So I'm delving into SIPs over lunch, and I'm checking what John's linked to (Six Degrees of Degustation, as it were). "Your New Body" is mostly self-help:


  • 9 references in Thriving After Breast Cancer : Essential Healing Exercises for Body and Mind by SHERRY LEBED DAVIS, STEPHANIE GUNNING

  • 9 references in Old Man's War by John Scalzi

  • 7 references in Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell After Pregnancy : Every Woman's Guide to Shaping Up, Slimming Down, and Staying Sane After the Baby by Debra Waterhouse

  • 3 references in The New Beverly Hills Diet Little Skinny Companion by Judy Mazel

  • 2 references in Make Your Body a Fat Burning Machine: 30 Days to a Leaner and Healthier You by John Abdo

    • rayyy | May 10, 2005 01:15 PM

    [twilight zone music in background]

    Weird, weird coincidence.

    After much hunting, I bought "Hats" last week. While I was in the store I almost bought Wind and Wuthering - I had them both in my hand at the same time - but put it back down, since there was only one track that I really wanted badly: "Blood on the Rooftops".

    Anyway, the guitar bit on the front of *that* track matches your picture perfectly.

    [twilight zone music fades out, mist swirls in]

    rayyy | May 10, 2005 01:16 PM

    Oh yeah, happy birthday!

    Kevin Q | May 10, 2005 01:35 PM

    For a nice melancholy or sorrow, I'd pair the picture on this page: gozips.uakron.edu/~kq1/images/ohio8.html with the Afghan Whig's "Brother Woodrow/Closing Prayer", the last song off of Gentlemen. Just a very sad song, and a very sad picture. And yes, I'm going to be "that guy," and choose one of my own pictures. I only wish I could say the song was my own, too.

    I posted a slightly longer version of this, with a link to the song, on my livejournal

    Ian Mathers | May 10, 2005 03:44 PM

    Here's my addition to the meme,

    Ian Mathers | May 10, 2005 03:46 PM

    Well, that was fun - I used the proper html tags but wound up with underline instead of a link. Oh well. It's actually here:

    http://fractional.blogspot.com/2005/05/picture-matching.html

    Djscman | May 10, 2005 06:21 PM

    Since I have no web hosting, I'm forced to be cheeky and geeky. I'd pair The Picture of Everything with the Minibosses' interpretation of "Mega Man 2". Although you may need to put the track on "repeat".