All the rowboats in the paintings They keep trying to row away And the captains’ worried faces Stay contorted and staring at the waves They’ll keep hanging in their gold frames For forever, forever and a day All the rowboats in the oil paintings They keep trying to row away, row away
Hear them whispering French and German Dutch, Italian, and Latin When no one’s looking I touch a sculpture Marble, cold and soft as satin But the most special are the most lonely God, I pity the violins In glass coffins they keep coughing They’ve forgotten, forgotten how to sing, how to sing
First there’s lights out, then there’s lock up Masterpieces serving maximum sentences It’s their own fault for being timeless There’s a price to pay and a consequence All the galleries, the museums Here’s your ticket, welcome to the tombs They’re just public mausoleums The living dead fill every room But the most special are the most lonely God, I pity the violins In glass coffins they keep coughing They’ve forgotten, forgotten how to sing
They will stay there in their gold frames For forever, forever and a day All the rowboats in the oil paintings They keep trying to row away, row away
First there’s lights out, then there’s lock up Masterpieces serving maximum sentences It’s their own fault for being timeless There’s a price to pay and a consequence All the galleries, the museums They will stay there forever and a day All the rowboats in the oil paintings They keep trying to row away, row away All the rowboats in the oil paintings They keep trying to row away, row away…