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 fetch a sculpture

Marble, gold, 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