The Canadian band Nickelback has seen a lot of controversy and critique over the years. Together since 1995, the band broke out in 2001 with their third album Silver Side Up. This gained them massive attention in Canada and the US, too. Later, the song “Photograph” off their fifth album, All the Right Reasons, got them a whole lot more attention.
Have you ever wondered about the meaning behind “Photograph” by Nickelback? This slow-burning Rock song is full of nostalgia. And it is one of Nickelback’s best-loved songs. So, why don’t we dive in and have a good look at the music, the lyrics, and the band behind this hit song?
Nickelback Band History
A quick look into the members of Nickelback and the band’s history will help us to understand the meaning of Nickelback’s “Photograph.” This 4-piece band was formed in 1995 in the very small town of Hanna, Alberta, Canada. If you know your hockey lore, it’s the home of the legendary Lanny McDonald.
The founding members of Nickelback included three Kroegers. Chad Kroeger on vocals and guitar, his brother Mike Kroeger on bass, and their cousin Brandon Kroeger on drums. They also threw in their friend Ryan Peake on guitar and backing vocal for good measure. This band, originally called Village Idiot, played bars and events around Hanna and eventually farther afield.
They also renamed themselves Nickelback after a joke about change…
The band made two records in 1996 and 2000 but struggled to find success. Brandon left the band early and was replaced by Mitch Guindon and then Ryan Vikedal. With him, the band recorded a new album, 2001’s Silver Side Up.
This record spawned the #1 hit song “How You Remind Me”. As well as the smaller hits “Too Bad” and “Never Again”. It sold millions of copies, eventually being certified 8x platinum in Canada and 6x platinum in the US.
This success sent the band touring around the world…
They recorded another record after this, 2003’s The Long Road. This was also successful and went to #1. More touring and high-living followed. In 2005, Vikedal was replaced by Daniel Addair, pinched from the band 3 Doors Down, to complete their permanent line-up. Then the band went into the studio to make the record that would host “Photograph,” 2005’s All the Right Reasons.
Since then, the band has continued writing, recording, and touring. They put out their most recent record, Get Rollin’, in 2022. So, they’re still very much on the map. They’ve seen massive success, selling over 50 million records and playing concerts to millions of fans over the years.
The Meaning Behind “Photograph” by Nickelback Revealed
The songs for All the Right Reasons were written between 2002 and 2005 when Nickelback was experiencing unbridled success. They were huge in their home country of Canada. But they shot up the charts in the US as well.
They were touring, making the big bucks, and getting lots of attention. In short, their lives had changed drastically from when they were young and living in the small town of Hanna, Alberta, Canada.
And that’s what this song is all about…
For anyone who’s ever grown up in a small town and had to move away for whatever reason, this song will make perfect sense. But you don’t have to have grown up in a place like Hanna to get it. This song is about the memories of being young and wild and looking back on them from an older perspective.
I’ve been to Hanna, and trust me; this place is tiny. It has a population of like 2000 people and is surrounded by farmland. If you were growing up there, unless you wanted to be a farmer, you’d see pretty quickly that there weren’t going to be many opportunities. And, you’d have to move away.
Plus, you’d have examples of all the older teens there going off to school and work. As well as a whole generation of people missing from your community.
Chad Kroeger starts this song using a simple device…
He asks you to look at a photograph and then starts describing what’s in it. Then more about his friends and his life when he was a teenager. He actually shows the very photo he’s singing about in the video for this song, or else a very cleverly reproduced one.
It’s a photo of him with producer Joey Moi at a New Year’s Eve party. Joey is wearing an ice bucket on his head, and their eyes are very possibly red from cannabis use.
Kroeger sings about a whole host of real memories in this song…
He touches on his high school, which he was arrested for breaking into multiple times. As a result, he ended up in juvenile detention for these break-ins. His record says he did it 11 times. He talks about his first girlfriend, Kim, who is now a nurse in British Columbia.
Likewise, he touches on his childhood home, which he realizes later was quite poor (his father abandoned the family when he was two). Although he never realized it at the time.
There are also references to the arcade where he and his friends used to hang out. And, especially, about singing along to the radio. So, he explores themes of youthful troublemaking, friendships, and first love. Also, dreams of moving on to a new life. In his case, these dreams were realized.
But the most important part of this song is the theme of moving on…
The chorus and some of the verses focus on relationships with friends. There’s a strong focus on nostalgia and holding onto some great memories of the people you grew up with. But there’s also the feeling of needing to say goodbye to the past and move ahead with life.
Kroeger uses the images of the back door and front door of his childhood home to focus on this. Looking out the back door is looking at the past. Heading out the front door means moving forward, growing, and boldly continuing through life. So, that’s what “Photograph” by Nickelback is about. Leaving your past as fond memories and moving forward.
The Music Behind “Photograph”
What good are great lyrics if you don’t have great music to back them up? This is the genius of Nickelback and their lead songwriter, Chad Kroeger. In the late 90s, he took time to pick apart the major chord progressions, song patterns, lyrical content, and vocal delivery of every Rock song that hit the top 40. In doing so, he learned how to perfect his craft of writing Pop-Rock songs with a bit of a hard edge.
“Photograph” is one of those perfected songs…
It starts with a heavily strummed acoustic guitar with Chad Kroeger and Ryan Peake harmonizing over top. Their voices, Peake’s high and Kroeger’s low, combine to create a weird and wonderful effect.
Halfway through the first verse, the drums come in minimally, and Mike Kroeger’s bass starts to tie down the bottom end. This continues for the first verse. Then a minor chord gets dropped in to change up the mood – classic.
And, then Daniel Addair’s drums drop in full-blast, and the chorus kicks off. Addair also adds to the backing vocals to give them extra punch. The lyrics in the chorus come faster and more forcefully, giving this part of the song an extra boost as well.
It repeats with another long verse and another chorus…
Then there’s a bridge, with the band rocking and Chad Kroeger and Ryan Peake singing two different but complementary parts. That’s followed by the last, shorter verse. Then, the last chorus with extra echoed vocals to make it stand out. Finally, the song finishes where it began.
There’s a final min-verse with just the guitar and vocals again at the end. And then, the track finishes on a final chord that rings out and stays there for a long time.
The song is just so well-balanced. It has the perfect mix of soft and hard parts that drag you around on an emotional rollercoaster. A very apt way to express the nostalgia of the past, but also the desire to move on.
The Video Behind “Photograph”
For the official music video for “Photograph,” the band returns to their hometown of Hanna in Southern Alberta. This isn’t all that far from Montana. So, you can think of a small, western town in the middle of rolling fields of farmland to picture it.
The song starts with the line that opens up the remembrance…
And the video starts with Chad Kroeger singing and showing the camera the exact photo that inspired the song “Photograph” by Nickelback. It continues with the singer and other members of the band walking around and experiencing the places and faces of Hanna.
The band also gets into the Hanna High School gym with their gear and sets up to play the song from that location. This scene is also interspersed with footage of the band driving in farmland and partying.
It also shows them at their current ages, witnessing their younger selves doing some of the things described in the lyrics. Especially kissing Kim down by the railroad tracks. I guess it’s because it shows real elements from their lives that the video comes across as genuine.
“Photograph” the Meme
In the mid-2010s, this song spawned an Internet meme that I simply can’t forget about. This meme was based on the opening shot of the video where Chad Kroeger is holding up the photograph. The meme was simple. Remove the photo and replace it with some other visual and make a written comment about it.
While this was initially a form of “Nickelbashing,” the meme took on a life of its own until it was applied to all content. And the Nickelback boys decided to embrace this phenomenon. It put them in the spotlight and increased their record sales significantly. Eventually, they even made their own parody song and video in 2020 as an ad for Google Photos.
Interested In The Meaning Behind Other Well-Known Songs?
If so, check out our thoughts on The Meaning Behind the Song “Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls, The Meaning Behind “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails, The Meaning Behind “Blackbird” by The Beatles, The Meaning Behind “Scar Tissue” by Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Meaning Behind “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers for more interesting song interpretations.
The Meaning Behind “Photograph” by Nickelback Explained
This song is very personal, nostalgic, and heartfelt. Some people can’t handle that and tried to twist it into a meme. But Nickelback twisted it back. This song is all about moving away from your hometown. And, at the same time, keeping the memories of the people and places in your heart while also truly moving on.
That’s not an easy thing to do, nor is it easy to write a song about. But Nickelback has done a great job here. The music tugs at the heartstrings as much as the lyrics do. And, combined with a great video, we get a polished and impactful piece of art.
Until next time, enjoy the music.
