Kodachrome (song)

"Kodachrome" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the lead single from his third studio album, "There Goes Rhymin' Simon" (1973), released on Columbia Records. The song is named after Kodak's now-discontinued reversal film brand Kodachrome.
Description.
After a review in "Billboards May 12 issue praising its "cheerfully antisocial lyrics," the song debuted at No. 82 in the Hot 100 on the week-ending May 19, 1973. The lyrics to this song on "There Goes Rhymin' Simon" differed in wording from those on "The Concert in Central Park" (1982) and "Paul Simon's Concert in the Park, August 15, 1991" albums. The former (the album) said, "...everything looks worse in black and white," but the latter (the concerts) said, "...everything looks better"' in black and white." While it might be easy to read into the change in lyrics, Simon said, "I can't remember which way I originally wrote it – 'better' or 'worse' – but I always change it...'Kodachrome' was a song that was originally called 'Goin' Home.'"
But the real significance was that Kodachrome film gave unrealistic color saturation. Pictures taken on a dull day looked as if they were taken on a sunny day. (To correct this, serious photographers would use a Wratten 2b UV filter to normalize the images.)
Development.
In an interview conducted in November 2008, Simon said that what he had in mind when writing the song was to call it "Going Home". However, finding this would have been "too conventional", he came up with "Kodachrome", because of its similar sound and larger innovative potential. He also refers to its first line as the "most interesting" part of the song.
Chart performance.
Four weeks after its debut on the Hot 100, the song moved to No. 9, sandwiched ahead of "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando and behind May 19, 1973, Hot 100 top debut (No. 59) "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" by George Harrison.
Two weeks later "Kodachrome" peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, behind "Will It Go Round in Circles" by Billy Preston. It peaked at No. 2 the "Billboard" adult contemporary chart, as well. In the United Kingdom, the song was marketed as the B-side to "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" (CBS 1578). The song was also banned by the Federation of (Australian) Radio Broadcasters.
Personnel.
The musicians on this session were the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.