When I Paint My Masterpiece
Bob Dylan
[Verse 1]
Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble
Ancient footprints are everywhere
You can almost think that you’re seeing double
On a cold, dark night on the Spanish Stairs
Got to hurry on back to my hotel room
Where I’ve got me a date with Botticelli’s niece
She promised that she’d be right there with me
When I paint my masterpiece

[Verse 2]
Oh, the hours I’ve spent inside the Coliseum
Dodging lions and wasting time
Oh, those mighty kings of the jungle, I could hardly stand to see them
Yes, it sure has been a long, hard climb
Train wheels running through the back of my memory
When I ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese
Someday, everything is going to be smooth like a rhapsody
When I paint my masterpiece

[Bridge]
Sailing 'round the world in a dirty gondola
Oh, to be back in the land of Coca-Cola
[Verse 3]
Well, I left Rome and landed in Brussels
On a plane ride so bumpy that I almost cried
Clergymen in uniform and young girls pulling mussels
Everyone was there to greet me when I stepped inside
Newspapermen eating candy
Had to be held down by big police
Someday, everything is going to be different
When I paint my masterpiece
Write the lyrics for a rock song made in 1971, titled "When I Paint My Masterpiece", by artist "Bob Dylan".