Pictures of You (from Little Fires Everywhere)

 Pictures of You (from Little Fires Everywhere)

Pictures of You by Lauren Ruth Ward is a song from the sound track of the TV series Little Fires Everywhere.

It is a simple song in 4/4 time at around 65 bpm or Adagio. It consist harmonically of only two chords in the key of G being the Ist and the Vth. Syncopated piano carries the lilting vocals of the song with a minimal amount of strings in the background. The song is divided into sections only by the use of instruments and the loudness of the m middle section. In this way has an AABA structure but is really only an AAA'A structure.

The piece contains piano, drone strings, vocals and backing vocals, a banjo, kick and snare drums, and cymbals. It is a sparse arrangement. Even in the middle section where it thickens considerably with the addition of the bulk of the instruments, it still remains a simple arrangement.

This fits in well with the narrative of the series which is based on the stories two women who both have a female friend. There is a lot of tension in the narrative as the white middle-class Elena (Reece Witherspoon) tries to do right by African American artist Mia (Kerry Washington) who is a bit of a loose cannon. In the end the relationship deteriorates considerably with disastrous results.

Pictures of You carries this tension in its simplicity and the building 'B' section, but also hints at a resolution which is promised but never actually achieved in the series.