"I Turn My Camera On" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() UK 7-inch single cover art | ||||
Single by Spoon | ||||
from the album Gimme Fiction | ||||
B-side |
| |||
Released | March 30, 2005 | |||
Recorded | July – September 2004 | |||
Studio | Public Hi-Fi (Austin, Texas) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:34 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Britt Daniel | |||
Producer(s) |
| |||
Spoon singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"I Turn My Camera On" on YouTube | ||||
Alternative cover | ||||
![]() US promotional 7-inch cover art |
"I Turn My Camera On" is a song by American indie rock band Spoon, the third track on their fifth studio album, Gimme Fiction (2005). It was first released as a download single on March 30, 2005, and later as a 7-inch and CD single on July 4, 2005. It was released through Merge Records in the US and Matador Records in the UK, who also distributed the download release. The song was written by band frontman Britt Daniel and produced by Daniel, Jim Eno, and Mike McCarthy. Daniel wrote the song after hearing "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand, and was influenced by the works of Prince to sing with falsetto vocals on the track. Daniel's lyrics are about "emotional distance", centering around a narrator who documents their surrounding world with a camera instead of actually engaging with it.[1] Musically, the band focused more on creating a sound influenced by dance and soul music.
"I Turn My Camera On" received positive remarks from music critics, with one writer calling it one of Spoon's signature songs. Commercially, the song peaked at No. 194 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 31 on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales chart. It has been featured in an episode of The Simpsons, a commercial for car manufacturer Jaguar, and a viral video featuring the miniature research robot Keepon dancing to the song. It was also included by Spoon on their greatest hits album, Everything Hits at Once (2019).