Pictures in an Exhibition

Track 3 on You Can Play These Songs with Chords

Produced by

Track #3 from Death Cab For Cutie’s debut demo album You Can Play These Songs with Chords, “Pictures in an Exhibition” also appears as the 5th track on their follow-up… Read More

Jan. 1, 19971 viewer

Pictures in an Exhibition Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I think you caught me on the down slide, downturn
I was busy writing with a pen and paper-thin dream
And all your plastic people with plastic hearts and smiles
They had the worst intentions all along after all, all, all, all

[Verse 2]
The royal castle holds the melodrama kings and queens
And all their dazzling children, they’re so regal, so clean
With pristine fingertips, they wash behind their ears
Then let their hair down till the audiences leave, leave, leave, leave, leave

[Hook]
I’m definitely shaking
The silence isn't breaking
Backwashed and stranded memories
Of something I thought could be

[Hook]
I’m definitely shaking
The silence isn't breaking
Backwashed and stranded memories
Of something I thought could be

[Outro]
I’m definitely shaking
I'm definitely shaking
I’m definitely shaking
I'm definitely shaking

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About

Track #3 from Death Cab For Cutie’s debut demo album You Can Play These Songs with Chords, “Pictures in an Exhibition” also appears as the 5th track on their follow-up album, Something About Airplanes.

The title of the song may have been inspired by the 1874 piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Death Cab for Cutie say about "Pictures in an Exhibition"?

I still really like “Pictures In An Exhibition” is kind of a pop song. It’s the most accessible on the record. I’m not saying it’s “There She Goes” by the The La’s or anything, but it’s just a pop song in its very, most basic structural sense.
– Ben Gibbard on Rolling Stone, 2008

Who produced “Pictures in an Exhibition” by Death Cab for Cutie?

When did Death Cab for Cutie release “Pictures in an Exhibition”?

Who wrote “Pictures in an Exhibition” by Death Cab for Cutie?