Photograph

"Photograph"
Single by Def Leppard
from the album Pyromania
Released	1983
Format	7"
Recorded	1982 Park Gates Studios Battle, Sussex, England Battery Studios London, England
Genre	Hard rock
Length	4:12
Label	Mercury
Writer(s)	Joe Elliott, Pete Willis, Steve Clark, Rick Savage, Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Producer	Robert John "Mutt" Lange
Def Leppard singles chronology
"Bringin' on the Heartbreak" (1981) "'Photograph'" (1983) "Rock of Ages" (1983)

"Photograph" is a 1983 single by British hard rock band Def Leppard from their album Pyromania. It was written as a tribute to the late actress Marilyn Monroe, as singer Joe Elliott often stated before playing the song live onstage. When released as a single it reached #1 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart and #12 on the Pop Singles chart.^[1] In 2006 the song was used in promotional ads for the DVD release of Blades of Glory. In 2009 it was named the 13^th greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1.^[2]

The 1993 live recording of the song in Sheffield, England appeared in the music video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock as part of a Def Leppard downloadable track pack, as did the 1993 live recording of "Rock of Ages". The song was also included in the tracklisting of the rhythm music video game Battle Of The Bands. In 2008 they performed the song with country star Taylor Swift on CMT Crossroads.

Joe Elliott comented on the Vault album that this song was a big hit in the US and that he felt disappointed that it didn't become a hit in the UK. Nationally syndicated sports talk show host Jim Rome commonnly refers to "Photograph" as one of the all time great rock songs ever.

Music video

There are two versions of the music video. The uncensored version shows a knife scene at the beginning, and on the censored version of the video, it is almost the same except the knife scene is replaced with a stationary black cat. There are several appearances by the late Marilyn Monroe in the video, as the song is actually about her and lead singer Joe Elliot's declaration that he doesn't "want [her] photograph" but that that's all he's got and he must admire her from afar.

The music video was directed by David Mallet^[3] and was shot on Friday December 2, 1982 (Bassist Rick Savage's 22nd birthday), in Battersea, London, England. It featured the video debut of guitarist Phil Collen.

Track listing

7": Vertigo / Phonogram Ltd / VERP 5 / Photograph pop-up cover (UK)

This version of the 7" single has a camera on the cover, that pops up and you can see a picture of Marilyn Monroe.

1. "Photograph"
2. "Bringin´on the Heartbreak"

7": Vertigo / Phonogram / Ver 9 - 605 960-8 (UK)

Photograph 7": Vertigo / Phonogram / Ver 9 - 605 960-8 (UK) Cover

This version of the 7" single resembles a wallet.

1. "Photograph"
2. "Bringin´on the Heartbreak"

Cover versions

The All-American Rejects performed a cover version to this song live on VH1 Rock Honors. ^[4]

References