Do You Know Any Songs About Painting?
Sunday October 7, 2007
Do you know any songs about painting? I've been thinking about it as various About.com Guides have been compiling lists of songs about their topics (from space to homes), but I keep coming back to just one song, Vincent. You know the one that starts:"Starry, starry night; Paint your palette blue and gray..."It was written by DonMcLean in 1971 and I still prefer his version (listen to it on his website) though numerous other versions have been sung. I was knee-high to a grasshopper when the song came out and would be hard pressed to say which I knew first, the song or who Van Gogh was.
The painting referred to in the Vincent song is Van Gogh's Starry Night, now in the collection of Moma in New York. It was painted in 1889, and is a subject Van Gogh had written about in his letters. The year before he'd mentioned it to Emile Bernard, saying: "When shall I ever get round to doing the starry sky, that picture which is always in my mind?" (Read more about Van Gogh's Starry Night...)
Do you know any songs about painting or painters, and do you have any particular favorite(s)? Won't you help me compile a Top 10 list (with Vincent being No.1!) by either posting a comment below or emailing me your suggestions.
Photo: Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh © Jean-Francois Richard (Creative Commons Some Rights Reserved)
Comments
What about “Artists Only” by the Talking Heads?
“Flowers are red” by Harry Chapin. I loved this song when I was young!!
Just passing and saw this and there’s a few songs I thought of.
Mona Lisa - Nat King Cole.
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds- Contrary to the popular myth the song was apparently inspired by a painting done at school by John Lennon’s son Julian.
Not a specific painting but Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs - a 1970’s UK hit by Brain and Michael and a tribute to painter L.S Lowry.
There’s probably some really obvious songs we’re missing isn’t there.
A Peter Gabriel Album titled Fourteen Black Paintings was inspired by Mark Rothko paintings and apparently many of the tracks on My Chemical Romance’s album The Black Parade were inspired by a painting also.
Paint Me a Birmingham by Tracy Lawrence
“Painter Song” by Nora Jones.
It’s beautiful!
Art Stewart in the “Year of the Cat”
“… running like a watercolor in the the rain…”
What about the song “Sing a Rainbow”
Red and Yellow and Pink and Green!
Orange and Purple and Blue!
I can sing a rainbow!
Sing a rainbow!
Sing a rainbow too!…….
“Pablo Picasso” by John Cale
“Portrait of the Artist as a Fountain” by
Simon Bookish
The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke, by Queen, is about the painting of the very same name by Richard Dadd. The songs can be found on the Queen II album.
The Frames “Santa Maria” is about Schiele’s dying days
please, please, please don’t forget “Eungenio Salvador Dalí” . Its a terriffic song by the spanish group “Mecano”, part of the lyrics says
“Si te reencarnas en cosa
hazlo en lapiz o en pincel
y Gala de piel sedosa
que lo haga en lienzo o en papel
si te reencarnas en carne
vuelve a reencarnarte en ti
que andamos justos de genios
“Eungenio” Salvador Dali”.
How about Bob Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece”???
David Bowie - Andy Warhol
The Nields - Georgia O
Joni Mitchell - Boticelli Black Boy
Painter Man
by Bonney M!
story of an artist by daniel johnston.
m ward’s version is great too.
‘World Emulsion’ by New Order