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When I Paint My Masterpiece [Live at the Academy of Music]The Band

Released: August 15, 1972

Featuring: Bob Dylan

Songwriter: Bob Dylan

Producer: The Band

Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble
Ancient footprints are everywhere
You could almost think that you're seeing double
On the cold, dark night on the Spanish Stairs

Gotta hurry on back to my hotel room
Where I got me a date with a pretty little girl from Greece
She promised she'd be there with me
When I paint my masterpiece

Oh, the hours we spent, inside the Coliseum
Dodging lions, and a-wasting time
Oh those mighty kings of the jungle, I could hardly stand to see 'em
Yes it sure has been a long, hard drive

Train wheels a-running thru the back of my memory
When I ran on a hilltop following a pack of wild geese
Someday everything is gonna sound like a rhapsody
When I paint my masterpiece

Sailing round the world in a dirty gondola
Oh to be back in the land of, Coca-cola
Well I left Rome, and landed in Brussels
On a plane ride so bumpy that I almost cried

Clergy men in uniform, and young girls pulling mussels
Everyone was there to greet me when I stepped inside
Newspaper men eating candy
Had to be held down by big police
Someday, its gonna be different
When I paint my masterpiece

The Band

The Band was a Canadian-American rock group, consisting of Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm. The members first met when they joined Ronnie Hawkins' Ontario-based group “The Hawks.” After separating, they were picked up by Bob Dylan for his 1965 US Tour, and then for the 1966 World Tour.

Their relationship with Dylan helped the group move to New York, where they collaborated with him on music that would end up becoming some of the most sought-after bootlegs of the time; namely, the 1975-released project known as The Basement Tapes. They followed up these sessions with the release of their debut album, 1968’s Music From Big Pink.

They have garnered numerous accolades and critical praise over the years, including a 1994 induction into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and a 2008 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Rolling Stone magazine ranked them at number 50 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of all Time. Additionally, 1968’s “The Weight” was ranked at number 41 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

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Live at the Academy of Music 1971

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