Regina Spektor - All The Rowboats

[Verse 1]
All the rowboats in the paintings
They keep trying to row away
And the captains' worried faces
Stay contorted and staring at the waves


[Hook]
They'll keep hanging in their gold frames
For forever, forever and a day
All the rowboats in oil paintings
They keep trying to row away, row away

[Verse 2]
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

[Pre-Hook]
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 da da da da, la da da da da, la

[Instrumental]

[Verse 3]
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

[Pre-Hook]
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

[Hook]
They will stay there in their gold frames
For forever, forever and a day
All the rowboats in oil paintings
They keep trying to row away, row away

[Instrumental]

[Verse 4]
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

[Outro]
All the rowboats in oil paintings
They keep trying to row away, row away
All the rowboats in oil paintings
They keep trying to row away, row away

A música é uma metáfora brilhante sobre museus de arte interpretados como prisões de alta segurança.

Em vez de ver o museu como um lugar de celebração da beleza, Regina adota a perspetiva dos próprios objetos de arte. Ela canta sobre barcos a remo pintados em telas barrocas, estátuas e obras-primas que estão "vivas", mas trancadas, congeladas no tempo e vigiadas por câmaras e seguranças.

A arte foi feita para ser livre, para estar no mar (no caso dos barcos) ou exposta aos elementos, mas foi "capturada" pela humanidade para consumo público. Os barcos querem navegar, mas os seus "remos de tinta" não conseguem mover-se. É uma crítica poética à forma como tentamos possuir e domesticar a história e a criatividade.

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