"Pictures of Matchstick Men" by Status Quo

I was passsing through the living room the other night and heard this song on the TV and could not believe my ears. I just 13 years old in the fall of 1967 when this record came out. It blew me away, changing the way I would look at music forever. This was around the same time as Jimi Hendrix went to England, and part of the sound he absorbed in the creation of his own unique, and unmatched style.

But what really blew me away the other night was that this song is now a commercial for one of the big box stores! Not bad for grabbing the attention of baby boomers like myself. I happen to have this on my flash drive and listen to it often in the car. I posted the you tube for the benefit of those who don't know that the new Target commercial is a 44 year old song by Staus Quo! The lyrics by Francis Rossi are Psychedelic poetry at it's best. He claims to have written it while hiding from his wife and mother in law in the bathroom. This quote is from Wikipedia; "I wrote it on the bog. I'd gone there, not for the usual reasons...but to get away from the wife and mother-in-law. I used to go into this narrow freezing toilet and sit there for hours, until they finally went out. I got three quarters of the song finished in that khazi. The rest I finished in the lounge."

Listen to the bass runs. The only other bassists playing this style at the time were Jack Bruce, Paul McCartney and John Entwistle. Enjoy the video- the summer of love is back!

Pictures of Matchstick Men by Francis Rossi

When I look up to the sky
I see your eyes a funny kind of yellow
I rush home to bed I soak my head
I see your face underneath my pillow
I wake next morning, tired, still yawning
See your face come peeping through my window

Pictures of matchstick men and you
Pictures of matchstick men and you
All I ever see is them and you

Windows echo your reflection
When I look in their direction now
When will this haunting stop?
Your face it just won't leave me alone

Pictures of matchstick men and you
Mirages of matchstick men and you
All I ever see is them and you

You in the sky, you with this guy
You make men cry, you lie
You in the sky, you with this guy
You make men cry, you lie

Pictures of matchstick men and
Pictures of matchstick men and you
Pictures of matchstick men ....