All the Rowboats - Regina Spektor

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 catch 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

La-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la

How…

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 you 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 hang 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 you 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