In Everyone says hi" he says he will put a picture of them in a cheap frame. thats not very nice is it? why make a point of putting there picture in something so tacky?

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Hi SoS.. hell, it rhymes, what more do you want?
It is an odd line, though the way he sings it is (I hate to use this word but I can find no other) really quite cute. I love it.

I would say he's emphasising that it's not a grand gesture, you know, the narrator is pointing out that it's a "little" frame, he's not paralysed with depression and mourning for the loss of this person, he just thinks he should have framed that picture... not a 'heavy' image. More about fond remembrance, than a feeling like he should be creating some sort of shrine to the departed.

It kind of reminds me of the "I've nothing much to offer, there's nothing much at stake" feeling of Absolute Beginners.

Cheers ~ Vic

Congratulations. You're fat Elvis.

Said you'd took a big trip
They said you moved away
Happened oh so quietly, they say

[You?] Should've took a picture
Something I could keep
Buy a little frame, something cheap
For you
Everyone says hi

I look at it as the narrator (Bowie) saying that the person should have taken a picture of themself, framed it and given it to him so he'd have something tangible to remember them by. The "something cheap" could mean "oh, don't spend a lot of money or go to a lot of trouble for me since after all, it's the picture that counts and what it represents, not what kind of frame it's in." When a person you love is gone for good, all you have left are memories and pictures.

Or, I could be completely way off. Which is why I don't post in here too often.

There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning
house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing. ~ Fahrenheit 451

Because Bowie wrote the song about me, and my friends don't have a lot of money for frames.

Seriously, as I've said before, this song does remind me very much of my friends in Houston after my move, right down to the fact that one of my friends took a picture she had of us and bought a couple of cheap frames so we'd each have a copy (note the "For you" after "something cheap" in the song - I think that in addition to wanting a picture of his friend for himself, he'd have given a copy to the departed. Note here also that I don't think the "departed" is dead, just moved away).

All of that said, I think Vicious pretty much nailed it - it's not supposed to be anything grandiose, it's just a gesture by which the affection is shown. It's fond remembrance rather than any overwhelming depression at the loss. And as white rabbit points out, it's about the picture and its meaning, not about the cash spent on the frame.

In addition, it makes the song seem more accessible and personal, like it's about normal people who buy $5 Walgreens frames to frame snapshots instead of richies who'd spend hundreds of dollars for the same. It certainly enhances a song that is already pretty personal for me.

WW

It's better to share beer

Reading your thoughts on the song I see it too - the "you" in the song could very well be dead! And up till this point I've rather heard it as a sort of slightly veiled love-letter. Like he misses the person who's moved away, but doesn't really want to admit it so he resites all the people who're missing "you" instead in order to make the person get homesick and come back... And I liked the dual levels of friendship and longing, but now that you've added the third level of the person being dead (and hopefully not in a "too hot" place) I love the song. What a flippant way to remenber someone departed! Brilliant with that doowop chorus!

This monster beauty is not eternal. - Apollinaire

I heard it the longest time "Buy a little frame/something sweet" . I think the the meaning here is the opposite of what he says. The reason the buying a cheap frame is that the person in the picture does not need a valuable frame to remind of his value, rather a cheap frame is enough, since the point is the person, not the picture. Or something like that...

I dread to think of when the wind blows

Maybe it is because the person who has gone away hasn't bothered to keep in contact (no letters, nothing to keep) so Bowie isn't going to bother to get something expensive or worthwhile because he thinks that he has been forgotten and isn't going to go to much effort for them.

"I am not young enough to know everything" - Oscar Wilde

All very nice thoughts but I still thinks its because it rhymes and fits the tune very nicely.

They see void while I see solid holes

I thought it was a bit harsh when I heard the 'something cheap' line, but I feel the same way. more of a lighthearted thing

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well I don't know what Bowie was thinking when he wrote that but I know a few people who don't deserve nothing else but a cheap frame...

"You don`t put a bra in a drier, it warps!"