And of all of the things that we knew/
Not a dream survived.

Jim Croce might be the best at capturing the bittersweet feelings of remembering an ex-lover. He is an under-rated songwriter and performer. “Photographs and Memories” are all we have of our once happy past, and it is sad. We made many plans together and had good times and bad, but that all came to an end for whatever reason. At the time it meant everything. Now all that is left of that time is photographs and memories, and that shows how fragile relationships are but also how short life can be.

Croce’s sings “Photographs and Memories” in a remorseful tone. What if things had turned out differently? He never exaggerates his voice to fake emotion, but he expresses so much. The song is mostly played with two acoustic guitars, but there are some strings added in.

The song ends with a slightly more upbeat outro about how they did have a good time together. It is funny: it is more upbeat compared to the rest of the song but compared to any other song it would still be downright depressing. I like sad songs. Anything that can make you feel anything is a good song in my book.

Photographs and Memories Lyrics
Photographs and memories
Christmas cards you sent to me
All that I have are these
To remember you

Memories that come at night
Take me to another time
Back to a happier day
When I called you mine

But we sure had a good time
When we started way back when
Morning walks and bedroom talks
Oh how I loved you then

Summer skies and lullabies
Nights we couldn’t say good-bye
And of all of the things that we knew
Not a dream survived

Photographs and memories
All the love you gave to me
Somehow it just can’t be true
That’s all I’ve left of you

But we sure had a good time
When we started way back when
Morning walks and bedroom talks
Oh how I loved you then

Songwriters: Jim Croce