All the Rowboats

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

Master pieces 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...