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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,
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 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 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 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
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,
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 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 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 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
Lyrics submitted by adamanteve, edited by Joanie2012, SunnyPee, tobeornot, ReSpektFan
Track duration: 03:33
"All the Rowboats" as written by Regina Spektor
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Another thought is that the whole song is a metaphor. The violins and the paintings are the people that society ( the museums) made them loose their creativity and their hapiness ( they've forgotten how to sing, they keep trying to row away)
-She speaks of the people in the painting as if they were real; how they're trapped and motionless. Rowboats are the way off of a ship/to escape. She's saying that they can't escape.
~I also like the other interpretations above. Artists express themselves through their work, and the whispering about the museum could be the observers judgment on the art.
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"When no one's looking I touch a sculpture marble, Cold, and soft as satin"
-Regina RESPECTS the artwork and what it all represents/the time put into it all/what makes it all special. She touches a sculpture, that would feel cold to the other whispering people, but she doesn't just feel the cold. It is precious/beautiful/special, "soft as satin". Satin is a beautiful expensive weave.
Regina sees the worth and value in the sculpture that may be hidden from the others:
"But the most special are the most lonely."
-this also goes for other artists, not just the sculpture. I like the interpretations above, where people say the artists who are popular/well-known/famous/celebrities can be unhappy with what they have. they have so much yet so little, like so many cliché movies :P
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"In glass coffins they keep coughing. They've forgotten, forgotten how to sing,
how to sing."
-not 100% on this, but in the following verse, it refers to the museums as mausoleums(a burial chamber to place deceased people). A history museum is full of knowledge learned from the past, or people who once lived. So, coffins refer to the burial chambers made of glass, like the art behind preserved glass in this museum.
-Like art like artist! the artists could have also felt trapped inside glass. As for forgotten how to sing, I'm kind of stuck, I like the interpretations above about living :P
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~The lights go out, the museum closes, and the art remains locked away like prisoners who cannot be free... I can't say much about "there's a price to pay and a consequence." .. it's a true moral statement, but I don't see how it refers to what has just been said or will be said :/
___________________________________________________________________
"They're just public mausoleums. The living dead fill every room."
-WOW. Talk about poetic!! Normally in a mausoleum you'd think that the dead people would all be in their coffins, in the ground and away, right? well Regina here, I think she's saying that the observers(whisperers) are the ones who are actually dead. They're not zombies though! :P They are physically living, but they are not "alive" so to speak. They fill every room of the museum, looking at the art, but not experiencing it(^like said above) They don't see what Regina sees/Don't have as much respect for the art as Regina does. Kind of harsh, but still AMAZING! :)
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~And then we're back to "All The Rowboats... keep trying to run away."
I'm trying my best to analyse this whole song for my college writing class, have to present a rhetorical situation that sparks thought!
I LOVE THIS SONG AND REGINA SPEKTOR!! (my favorite song is The Party<3)
:*
"All the galleries, the museums
Here's your ticket, welcome to the tombs
They're just public mausoleums
The living dead fill every room"
Also, I think part of it is about how artists meant for their work to be experienced, not just viewed. Not necessarily touched, but they meant for their srt to touch people, not just to be things for people to look at.
"When no one's looking I touch a sculpture
marble, cold, and soft as satin"
just a few thoughts.
To me, this just feels like a simple surreal fantasy, something where Regina just looked at a painting and was amused by the fact that the people in the painting are rowing to nowhere, which is pretty funny if you think about it - most of the people in paintings in action scenes are moving without motion.
Sure, it could be her lament about how she might feel a little bit like she's under glass, but I think it's more bemused than annoyed.
Having watched the video, I think there's a subtext about how beautiful women are treated because of their beauty. Why else would our sweet, quirky Regina be dolled up like she was auditioning for The Vampire Diaries?
I totally agree. I think the line is "I touch a sculpture, marble, cold, and soft as satin."
It's either referring to beautiful women or celebrities or both. They are all admired, but there is a price to pay.
Hence the lines "masterpieces serving maximum sentences" and "stay there in their gold frames" and "in glass coffins they keep coughing."
These people get fame, but as a consequence they are put into a prison of their own making, where they lose some of their humanity and even parts of who they are.
They will STAY there in their gold frames
On a superficial level, in "All the Rowboats", Regina seems to be lamenting for the timeless masterpieces that are serving maximum sentences in galleries which are likened to tombs and mausoleums in the song's chorus. It's definitely an interesting perspective.
However, I feel that she's also talking about artists who do not want to be ogled at and celebrated the way these masterpieces are. They want to share their art with the world but they don't want special treatment nor the celebrity status. They don't want to be cut off from the world. Their art is formed from their life experiences - from their connection with the rest of the world - and if they are placed in a metaphorical glass coffin, they'll forget how to live and therefore, they'll forget how to sing.
Another undertone that keeps hitting me is how those attending these galleries - the people speaking various languages - aren't there to experience the art but to merely view them, whisper their judgment and pass on to the next item on display, almost cheapening the works of the artists who put their heart and soul into their work not to have them be judged but to be "experienced". The result is a sterile environment in which these masterpieces are trapped to the judgmental of the casual onlookers.
I feel like I'm only scratching the surface here, though. There's much more to it that I can't quite articulate (the words just aren't coming) but I hope I can just click "like" on a comment where someone does articulate what I feel like I'm unable to say (not to discredit the various interesting views we have on here already, 'course).
I don't know if anyone else has noticed the "grave diggers" theme by regina. Thats something that I've asociated with the title of the song but anyway it might be over analizing and makes me feel a little crazy to think of it LOL. But it was actually my first impression when I heard the song, though overtime I've noticed other more imortant themes here.
Love the song, I'm a violinist and theres something about "Art" and "professional" "academic" music that there really is to pitty about.
The line ''The most special are the most lonely'' is really good. I think it also applies to celebrities, e.g. Michael Jackson.