This Camera

This camera costs a pretty buck
But it's worth every dime
It removes the element of luck
From the task of stopping time
As the moments of your life sift down
Like sand grains through a sieve
This camera takes the picture for you
All you do is live
That's all you do is live....

This camera takes the picture for you,
Take it to the zoo
Just enjoy the animals
Silly things they do
And if your baby daughter's ice cream face
Gets licked by a giraffe
This camera takes the picture for you
All you do is laugh
That's all you do is laugh...

This camera takes the picture for you
Everywhere you are
Bring it on your business trips,
Take it to the bar
And if a pretty topless dancing girl
Lands in your buddy's lap
This camera takes the picture for you
All you do is clap
That's all you do is clap...

This camera takes the picture for you
Ask for it by name
Bring it when you bring your dad
To see the hockey game
And when the winning goal is scored
And you both spill all your beer
This camera takes the picture for you
All you do is cheer
That's all you do is cheer...

This camera takes the picture for you
Nothing else would get
Think of all those memories
You won't miss with your pet
And when your faithful dog of fourteeen years
Goes drifting off to sleep
This camera takes the picture for you
All you do is weep
That's all you do is weep...

This camera takes the picture for you
Nothing left to chance
Images of happiness,
Humour and romance
And when your final parting glance is
Frozen in your eye
This camera takes the picture for you
All you do is die
That's all you do is die...

Songs sometimes teach me lessons, by turning out to be about something completely different than I thought I had in mind when I wrote them. This one is a case in point: I thought it was a photographer's somewhat cynical view of the way we put cameras between ourselves and the special moments of our lives; the idea that no moment was complete until it had been photographed.

But after hearing several people tell me how moved they were, because the song reminded them of their own cherished photographs and special moments, I realized the song is not nearly as cynical as I had thought. I see it now as a kind of hint of a prevailing awareness -not a camera in fact, but a consciousness that perhaps pervades our lives in a way that we can simply live them, and not have to be so concerned about keeping track.

Whether this exists or not I don't know, but the song keeps deepening for me, and that's really all I could ask.