Phil Brown Songtext
von David Mallett

And I knew a painter in my younger days
A man who lived with brushes, sticks and stones
His days were filled with canvas scenes
Of browns and blues and meadow greens
And the world just passed on by his door
He lived but lived alone
And he′d come to town with his old wool hat pulled down
Surrounded by the dogs that were his friends
At times too drunk to stand he'd shake familiar hands
And sit around the Esso station ′til his loneliness would mend


And I knew a painter in my reckless days
Bristle-bearded, humble on his feet
A sympathetic sad old elf
He knew me better than I knew myself
In the last days of my boyhood
And my time out on the street
And long through the night a faded yellow light
Would burn inside the room where he would stand
And play the old Victrola and drink his rusty wine
And conduct the Mozart music with his heart and shaking hand

But he could paint a picture and he could capture life
And no one ever felt things more than he
And he was never much for roses
He'd sooner paint the thorns
'Cause he found a keener beauty there
That no one else could see

And someone bought the house he lived in
And painted up the room he died in
And swept away the cobwebs
And the dust from off the floor
The children laugh, the seasons run
Young lovers roll in midnight fun
But no one loves more than the one
Who paints the world a war

And long through the night a faded yellow light
Would burn inside the room where he would stand
And play the old Victrola and drink his rusty wine
And conduct the Mozart music with his heart and shaking hand