Released: March 25, 1990
Songwriter: Bob Dylan
Producer: Grateful Dead
[Verse 1]
Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble
Ancient footprints are everywhere
You can almost think that you're seein' 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 she'd be right there with me
When I paint my masterpiece
[Instrumental break]
[Verse 2]
Oh, the hours I've spent inside the Colosseum
Dodging lions and wastin', wastin' time
Oh, those mighty kings of the jungle
I could hardly stand to see 'em
Well, it sure has been a long hard climb
Train wheels runnin' through the back of my memory
When I ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese
Someday, life will be sweet like a rhapsody
When I paint my masterpiece
[Instrumental break]
[Verse 3]
I left Rome, then I landed in Brussels
On a flight so bumpy that I almost cried
Clergymen in uniform, yes, and young girls pullin' muscles
They cheered, happy when I got right
Newspapermen eating candy
Had to be held down by big police
Someday, everything gonna be different
When I paint my masterpiece
Someday, everything gonna be different
When I paint my masterpiece
When I paint my masterpiece
Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble
Ancient footprints are everywhere
You can almost think that you're seein' 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 she'd be right there with me
When I paint my masterpiece
[Instrumental break]
[Verse 2]
Oh, the hours I've spent inside the Colosseum
Dodging lions and wastin', wastin' time
Oh, those mighty kings of the jungle
I could hardly stand to see 'em
Well, it sure has been a long hard climb
Train wheels runnin' through the back of my memory
When I ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese
Someday, life will be sweet like a rhapsody
When I paint my masterpiece
[Instrumental break]
[Verse 3]
I left Rome, then I landed in Brussels
On a flight so bumpy that I almost cried
Clergymen in uniform, yes, and young girls pullin' muscles
They cheered, happy when I got right
Newspapermen eating candy
Had to be held down by big police
Someday, everything gonna be different
When I paint my masterpiece
Someday, everything gonna be different
When I paint my masterpiece
When I paint my masterpiece
- Dozin’ at the Knick (1996)
- When I Paint My Masterpiece
- Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
- All Along the Watchtower
- Ballad of a Thin Man
- Queen Jane Approximately
- Maggie’s Farm
- Man of Peace
- Gimme Some Lovin’ (Live at Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, NY, March 26, 1990)
- When I Paint My Masterpiece (Live)
- Dear Mr. Fantasy
- Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)
- Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
- Desolation Row
- It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
- Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
- She Belongs to Me
- When I Paint My Masterpiece (Live at Knickerbocker Arena, March 1990)
- All Along the Watchtower (Live at Knickerbocker Arena, March 1990)
- Second That Emotion (Live at Fillmore East NYC April 1971)
- Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again (Live at the Meadowlands, October 16, 1989)
- Tomorrow Never Knows (Live at Oakland Coliseum Arena, Oakland, CA, December 16, 1992)
- Gimme Some Lovin’ (Live at Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, VA, November 1, 1985)
- Dear Mr. Fantasy (Live at Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA, March 27, 1988)
- Dear Mr. Fantasy (Live at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ, April 1, 1988)