"This Picture" is a single by British alternative rock band

Placebo A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general ...

, from their fourth studio album, ''

Sleeping with Ghosts ''Sleeping with Ghosts'' is the fourth studio album by British alternative rock band Placebo. It was recorded from late 2002 to early 2003 and released on 1 April 2003 by record labels Virgin and Hut. ''Sleeping with Ghosts'' reached number 11 ...

'', released on 9 June 2003. It was the second single off of the album. "This Picture" was remixed by

Junior Sanchez Eugenio Sanchez Jr., commonly known by his stage name Junior Sanchez, is an American record producer, DJ, artist, re-mixer and record executive from New Jersey. Early life Junior Sanchez was born in New Jersey, on May 4, 1977, and raised in the ...

for the bonus remix CD of '' Once More with Feeling''.

Lyrics

It tells the story of a relationship involving

sadomasochism Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

and an abusive female in a position of dominance. In the lyrics, the phrase "ashtray girl" is meant to refer to a woman who uses her partner as an "emotional ashtray"; "cigarette burns on my chest" makes reference to a supposed particular fetish of

James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...

. As singer/lyricist

Brian Molko Brian Molko (born 10 December 1972) is a Belgian-born Scottish-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and lyricist of the band Placebo. He is known in particular for his distinctive nasal, high-pitche ...

commented, prior to its performance at a concert,

There's an old story that somebody told me once about James Dean. For those of you who don't know this yet, James Dean was gay. Yes, I'm sorry, it's true. He had a particular fetish where he liked to have cigarettes stubbed out on his chest. That's kind of an image that's always stayed with me, and part of the inspiration for this song.

Release

''This Picture'' was released by Hut Recordings on 9 June 2003. Dale Price of ''

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'' regarded it as one of the best songs on ''Sleeping with Ghosts'' and compared it favourably to the band's earlier single " You Don't Care About Us". The single peaked at no. 23 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Music video

The music video features the Italian actress

Asia Argento Asia Argento (; born Aria Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento; 20 September 1975) is an Italian actress and filmmaker. The daughter of filmmaker Dario Argento, she has had roles in several of her father's features and achieved mainstream success with a ...

.Asia Argento: video con i Placebo
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Track listings

CD Australian CD version 7" DVD *"This Picture" (video) *Interview footage *"This Picture" (acoustic version recorded by RTL2 France) *"Jackie" – audio track

Charts

References

{{Authority control Placebo (band) songs 2003 singles Songs written by Brian Molko Songs written by Stefan Olsdal Songs written by Steve Hewitt Song recordings produced by Jim Abbiss 2003 songs Virgin Records singles Music videos directed by Howard Greenhalgh