"Lady Picture Show" is a song by American alternative rock band Stone Temple Pilots. It was the third single released from their third album, Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop. It was also one of three tracks on the album to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

"Lady Picture Show"
A simple slate background with the name of the band and the song written in large light-yellow cursive
Single by Stone Temple Pilots
from the album Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop
ReleasedNovember 6, 1996 (1996-11-06)
StudioWesterly Ranch, Santa Ynez, California
Genre
Length4:06
LabelAtlantic
Composer(s)Robert DeLeo
Lyricist(s)Scott Weiland
Producer(s)Brendan O'Brien
Stone Temple Pilots singles chronology
"Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart"
(1996)
"Lady Picture Show"
(1996)
"Tumble in the Rough"
(1997)
Audio sample
Music video
"Lady Picture Show" on YouTube

Scott Weiland wrote in his autobiography, Not Dead and Not for Sale, that the song "is about the horrific gang rape of a dancer who winds up falling in love but can't let go of the pain."[3]

"Lady Picture Show" also appears on Thank You, a greatest hits compilation released in 2003. It was also used in the unaired pilot episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer during the scene where Buffy is at The Bronze.

Music video

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The music video was directed by Josh Taft.[4] The video is presented as an old film peep show; rendered nearly completely in black-and-white. Throughout the video, the band can be seen playing in a white room, with objects such as bubbles and shiny diamonds. Various shots of exotic dancers are seen dancing around the screen as well, along with shots of the band members playing. During Dean DeLeo's notable solo, the screen turns into the fuzzy color structure which was a trademark of the 1960s. The segment shows Dean playing in a colorful meadow, and it then fades back into black and white for the rest of the video.


Charts

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Chart (1996–97) Peak
Position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[5] 37
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[6] 6
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[7] 1
US Radio Songs (Billboard)[8] 53

Notes

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  1. ^ Rolli, Bryan. "Stone Temple Pilots' Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop Remains a Prized Relic of the Grunge Era". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  2. ^ "Scott Weiland: A guide to his best albums". Louder Sound. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  3. ^ Not Dead and Not For Sale (Scribner, 2010), pp120
  4. ^ Stone Temple Pilots: Lady Picture Show (Music Video) (1996), retrieved 2024-02-05
  5. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 64, No. 18". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  6. ^ "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  7. ^ "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  8. ^ "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 20, 2021.