Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)

"Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)" is a 1982 song by A Flock of Seagulls, the opening song and only hit single from their second album Listen.

Background
The song exemplifies "synth-pop's spaced-out loneliness" and yearning for imagined, absent lovers, and is noted for its Wall of Sound-styled layer of synthesizer padding – a "multi-layered, hypnotic song", according to AllMusic.

According to lead singer Mike Score, "Wishing" was based on a real person. When recalling the experience with this person, he said, "It was the eve of the first trip we ever took to America, and I had met a girl. We went out for the night, and I didn't want to forget her, so I said, 'We're going on tour and I'll be back. I'd like to get a photograph of you, if I could get one.' And she said, 'No, because you're going to go on to be famous and you'll forget me.'"

Formats

 * 7" Jive 25 (UK) – 1982


 * 12" Jive T25 (UK) – 1982


 * 12" Jive VJ 12014 (US) – 1982


 * CD August Day 41 (UK) – 2019

Chart and certifications
Unlike the band's 1982 hit "I Ran (So Far Away)", largely a United States and Australian hit, "Wishing" performed strongly in the band's home country, the United Kingdom, and reached the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart; in the US, it reached the top 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 in mid-1983. It was popular in South Africa, reaching No. 8.