Picture (song)

"Picture" is a duet written by American music artists Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow, released on November 12, 2002, as the fourth single and ninth track from Kid Rock's 2001 album Cocky. The original recording on the album is performed by the song's writers. Rock re-recorded the song for radio with alternative country singer Allison Moorer because Atlantic was initially unable to get the rights from Crow's label to release the album version as a single.^[2] When the Moorer version was released, some radio stations began playing the Crow version instead, leading Billboard to credit the song variously to Kid Rock featuring Sheryl Crow or Allison Moorer. The song was a commercial and critical success and was nominated for Vocal Event of The Year at the 2003 Country Music Association awards.

"Picture"
Remix cover
Single by Kid Rock featuring Sheryl Crow or Allison Moorer
from the album Cocky
Released	November 12, 2002
Recorded	March 2001
Genre	Country rock^[1]
Length	4:58 (Sheryl Crow album version) 5:07 (Allison Moorer album version)
Label	Atlantic
Songwriter(s)	R. J. Ritchie, Sheryl Crow
Producer(s)	Kid Rock
Kid Rock singles chronology
"You Never Met a Motherfucker Quite Like Me" (2002) "Picture" (2002) "Feel Like Makin' Love" (2003)
Sheryl Crow singles chronology
"C'mon C'mon" (2002) "Picture" (2002) "The First Cut Is the Deepest" (2003)
Allison Moorer singles chronology
"Think It Over" (2001) "Picture" (2002) "Tumbling Down" (2002)
Audio sample
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Background

Kid Rock's label, Atlantic Records, was unable to obtain permission from Crow's label, A&M Records, to release the original version as a single. Therefore, Atlantic Records decided to rework the song with country singer Allison Moorer (coincidentally signed to A&M's sister label Universal South Records) instead. Moorer re-recorded Crow’s vocals for the radio release.^[2]

Even though Atlantic Records was unable to obtain rights to release Crow's version as a single, mainstream, rock/alternative, and some country radio stations disregarded this and played the original version featuring Crow, while other country music radio stations played the radio edit featuring Allison Moorer instead. Because of this, Billboard credited the song on the charts as Kid Rock featuring Sheryl Crow or Allison Moorer.^[3] Each version of the song features a different guitar solo.

Composition

The song is performed in the key of G major in common time with a tempo of 98 beats per minute.^[4] The verses of the song follow a chord progression of G–C–D–C–G, and the chorus follows an Em–G–D–C–G progression. The vocals span from G₂ to D₅.^[5]

Chart performance

Being the third Kid Rock single that entered Billboard's Hot 100 chart, "Picture" remains his highest-charting single in the United States, peaking at No. 4 in April 2003. The song also charted on the Hot Country Songs chart, peaking at No. 21. Until 2008's "All Summer Long", it also marked his only Top 40 country hit. The song is also Sheryl Crow's second-most successful single in the United States, after her 1994 hit "All I Wanna Do" which reached No. 2.

On the Hot Country Songs chart, the song was credited only to Kid Rock and Crow for 22 weeks. By then, the single had reached No. 33 on the charts.^[6] The following week, however, the song began to be credited to Kid Rock featuring Sheryl Crow or Allison Moorer.^[7] The song spent a total of 33 weeks on the country chart, reaching No. 21 in 2003.^[8]

As of September 2017, "Picture" sold 836,300 copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.^[9]

Music video

Even though Crow's label did not release licensing permissions for the original version, Crow was featured in the music video singing instead of Moorer. The video takes place in a studio showing Rock and Crow recording the song, accompanied by clips of the duo hanging out in the winter time. During the guitar solo, Rock is seen wearing a cowboy hat and winter jacket while walking alone in a field covered in snow. The video also features a few uses of the monochrome effect, while most of the video is in color. It was directed by JB Carlin.

Notable live and recorded performances

Kid Rock performed "Picture" with LeAnn Rimes on his 2003 Christmas TV special, A Kid Rock Christmas.

A live performance he had of the song with Gretchen Wilson was released as a track on his 2006 album Live Trucker.

He performed the song at a concert with Martina McBride for the 2009 TV special CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night To Rock.^[10]

Kid Rock has also sung the song live with female country singers Kellie Pickler, Miranda Lambert and Jessie James.

When the song is performed live, the music pauses while Rock holds out the lyric “I was off to drink you away”, following the lyric “I was headed to church”.

Covers

Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold covered the song with Joanna Newsom in 2010 when the former opened for the latter.

Rascal Flatts covered the song with Sheryl Crow on their joint 2014 tour.

Track listings

US CD single with Allison Moorer^[11]

1. "Picture" (radio edit) – 4:13
2. "Picture" (long version edit) – 4:59
3. "Picture" (long version) – 4:59

US CD single with Sheryl Crow

1. "Picture" (radio edit 1) – 4:14
2. "Picture" (radio edit 2) – 4:09
3. "Picture" (album edit) – 4:14
4. "Picture" (album version) – 4:58

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "Picture" Chart (2002–2003) Peak position Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)^[12] 2 US Billboard Hot 100^[13] 4 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)^[14] 17 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)^[15] 2 US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[16] 21 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)^[17] 5 US Top 40 Tracks (Billboard)^[18] 4

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for "Picture" Chart (2003) Position US Billboard Hot 100^[19] 9 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)^[20] 31 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)^[21] 11 US Hot Country Singles & Tracks (Billboard)^[22] 76 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)^[21] 14

Certifications

Certifications and sales for "Picture"

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)^[23]	Gold	500,000^*
^* Sales figures based on certification alone.

References

1. D'Angelo, Joe. . MTV. Archived from the original on February 1, 2003. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
2. Kaufman, Gil (January 29, 2003). "Kid Rock's Dead-In-The-Water Cocky Comes Back To Life". MTV News. Retrieved September 9, 2017.
3. Masley, Ed (August 21, 2015). "15 Best Kid Rock Singles, from 'Bawitdaba' to 'First Kiss'". Arizona Republic. Retrieved September 9, 2017 – via azcentral.com.
4. "Picture (feat. Sheryl Crow) - Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock - Spot On Track". www.spotontrack.com. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
5. Rock, Kid (March 31, 2003). "Kid Rock "Picture" Sheet Music in G Major (transposable) - Download & Print". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
6. [1]^{[dead link]}
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8. [3]^{[dead link]}
9. (PDF). Nielsen SoundScan. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 19, 2017. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
10. Acken, Lori (August 13, 2009). "ABC rocks country fans with CMA Music Festival: Country's Night To Rock". Channel Guide Magazine.
11. "Picture: Kid Rock, Allison Moorer: Music". Amazon. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
12. "Sheryl Crow Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs)". Billboard. from the original on February 2, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
13. "Kid Rock Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
14. "Kid Rock Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
15. "Kid Rock Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard.
16. "Kid Rock Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
17. "Kid Rock Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
18. . AllMusic. Archived from the original on July 9, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
19. "Billboard Top 100 – 2003". Billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
20. "The Year in Charts 2003: Most-Played AC Songs". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 11, no. 51. December 19, 2003. p. 25.
21. "Year in Music". Billboard. Vol. 115, no. 52. December 27, 2003. p. YE-80. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
22. "The Year in Charts 2003: Most-Played Country Songs". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 11, no. 51. December 19, 2003. p. 38.
23. "American single certifications – Sheryl Crow – Soak Up the Sun". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 2, 2018.

External links

• Video at MTV.com