Into the Lens

"Into the Lens" is a song written by Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes. It was originally released in 1980 by progressive rock band Yes, of which Horn and Downes were a part, as a part of the album Drama, before being reworked as "I Am a Camera" for the 1981 album Adventures in Modern Recording by The Buggles, a duo consisting of Horn and Downes; both versions were released as singles, with the Yes single being re-titled "Into the Lens (I Am a Camera)".[3]

"Into the Lens"
Single by Yes
from the album Drama
B-side"Does It Really Happen?"
ReleasedSeptember 1980 [1]
Genre
Length8:33
3:47 (single)
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)Geoff Downes, Trevor Horn, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Alan White
Producer(s)Yes and Eddie Offord
Yes singles chronology
"Don't Kill the Whale"
(1978)		 "Into the Lens"
(1980)		 "Owner of a Lonely Heart"
(1983)
Music video
"Into the Lens" on YouTube

The Yes version of the song additionally credits Steve Howe, Chris Squire, and Alan White as co-songwriters; all the songs featured on Drama were credited to the five of them.

Development
"I Am a Camera"
Single by The Buggles
from the album Adventures in Modern Recording
B-side"Fade Away"
ReleasedOctober 1981
Length4:32
LabelCarrere
ZTT
Songwriter(s)Geoff Downes, Trevor Horn
Producer(s)Trevor Horn
The Buggles singles chronology
"Elstree"
(1980)		 "I Am a Camera"
(1981)		 "Adventures in Modern Recording"
(1982)

The first version of the song was a demo, recorded on a Sunday afternoon when songwriters Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes started working on the second Buggles album in 1980.[3] When they joined Yes, it gained input from other members Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White, and therefore, "Into the Lens" features a more distinctive "prog rock" sound.[3]

When Horn and Downes resumed work on the Buggles album which would become Adventures in Modern Recording, the song was reworked as "I Am a Camera". Trevor Horn said about the two versions:[3]

The song "I Am a Camera" was a Buggles track and we had adapted it into a Yes track. It became "Into the Lens" and, naturally, slightly more overblown. I don't mind "Into the Lens"—the melody's unadulterated while the arrangement's a lot more complicated—but I still prefer The Buggles version. I think Geoffrey's brilliant on the Buggles version.[3]

Version history and releases

The two versions feature slightly different lyrics, notably "I will never let you go, and you always let the feelings show" ("Into the Lens") compared to "I will never let you go, if you want to let the feelings show" ("I Am a Camera"). The line "taken in tranquillity" is also absent from the Buggles song, but reappears on the "12" Mix", which was added as a bonus song for ZTT's (Trevor Horn's own label) 2010 re-release of Adventures in Modern Recording. The line "I am a camera" is a quote from Christopher Isherwood's Goodbye to Berlin (1939). The full sentence reads, "I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking." There was also a play (1951) and subsequent film (1955) based on the novel under the name I Am a Camera.

Along with the "On TV" and "Lenny" singles, The Buggles' "I Am a Camera" was re-released by ZTT on iTunes in 2012, including three bonus tracks: the aforementioned "12" Mix" of the song, and two demos both titled "We Can Fly from Here" ("Part I" and "Part II" respectively).[4] The latter two songs would (like the "I Am a Camera" demo) be reworked as Yes songs, and in fact become the basis of Yes' future album, 2011's Fly from Here, which would mark the second time that both Horn and Downes would work with Yes following a departure by Jon Anderson - Downes returning on keyboards for both the album and the tour, but Horn taking the role as producer and offering some backing vocals, but reserving lead vocals for Benoît David. Along with the "12" mix", the B-side, and the two demos also appear on ZTT's 2010 re-release of Adventures in Modern Recording.

In the Netherlands, The Buggles version originally peaked on the Single Top 100 at #46,[5] but reached #11 on the Dutch Top 40.[6] It also reached #45 on the Italian Hit Parade Singles Chart.[7]

The single edit of Yes' own "Into the Lens" was titled "Into the Lens (I Am a Camera)".

In 1985, "I Am a Camera" was covered by Kim Carnes for her album Barking at Airplanes.[8]

Music video

In the music video made for "I Am a Camera", during the beginning, there are a pair of Horn's trademark glasses. On one of the lenses is a video and the other is glass. Horn comes out of the video side of the glasses (as illustrated). There are scenes involving Horn singing, broken glasses and opticians' tools. The video is seemingly set in a dollhouse. Towards the end, Horn is seen lying on the floor passed out.[9] On 22 March 2013, Classic Pop Magazine rated the music video a "Classic Video".[10]

Personnel

Yes version

Buggles version of "I am a Camera"

Other information

Since 1982, few frames from the song are used as a jingle of "music premiere" at Polskie Radio Program III (Polish Radio Three) and as a jingle of new song on their chart, Lista Przebojów Programu Trzeciego.[11]

References
  1. Welch, Chris (2003). Close to the Edge: The Story of Yes (2 ed.). Omnibus Press. p. 293. ISBN 0-7119-9509-5.
  2. Reed, Ryan (4 December 2018). "All 183 Yes Songs Ranked Worst to Best". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  3. Peel, Ian (2010). Adventures in Modern Recording (CD insert). The Buggles. Salvo Records. SALVOCD036.
  4. "The Buggles: I Am a Camera - EP". iTunes. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  5. "Buggles - I Am A Camera". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  6. "Buggles - I Am A Camera". Top40.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  7. "Hit Parade Italia - Indice per Interprete: B". www.hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  8. ""I Am a Camera" - Kim Carnes". YouTube.com. July 29, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  9. The Buggles - "I Am a Camera" Music Video on MTV2 on YouTube. Accessed from 21 April 2013.
  10. "Classic Videos 22/03/2013". Classic Pop Magazine. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  11. "Lista przebojów Programu Trzeciego" (in Polish). Trójkofan. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
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