People Take Pictures of Each Other

"People Take Pictures of Each Other", the second track on The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society having to do with photography (the other being "Picture Book"), takes a sardonic look on how people must "take pictures of each other, just to prove that they really existed" and how "Fathers take pictures of the mothers, and the sisters take pictures of brothers, just to show that they love one another." They also take pictures of certain moments "when they mattered to someone." The singer also reminisces about "pictures of things as they used to be," such as pictures of the singer "when [he] was just three, sucking [his] thumb by the old oak tree." He then can't bear to look back, whimpering "don't show me no more, please."

Ray Davies said in late 1969, "I'm not very witty at all. I feel intensely about a lot of things but it might come out in a funny sounding way. If you can make a funny song and then have one very hard line, you reach people. That's just a construction thing."[1]

"People Take Pictures of Each Other" was first released as the closing track on the original 12-track version of The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society in some European countries. When this version of the album was pulled before the U.K. and U.S. releases of the album, the new track listing (with 15 songs) still featured "People Take Pictures of Each Other" as the final track on the LP. The 12-track stereo version differs from the regular album version with the addition of a big band ending that was removed from the final version of the album.

"People Take Pictures of Each Other" generally received positive reviews from critics. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine cited the track as a highlight from The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society.[2] In his 33 and 1/3 book, Andy Miller said no other tracks on The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society "does [the comedic lyric] quite like "People Take Pictures of Each Other" and no other Village Green track packs the same emotional punch."[1]

The song was part of the bands regular set for their 1973 tour, and would later be played live by Ray Davies at the 2011 Meltdown festival which he curated.

In 1994 the band Die Goldenen Zitronen made a german cover version of the song ("Menschen machen Fotos gegenseitig") which was released on their fourth studio album "Das bißchen Totschlag".

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics