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Leave It Like It Is Lyrics
Now when the paint jar tipped
Off of the table
You watched as it started to fall
Glass popped, shattered and splattered
And paint spray hit the wall
Bright, blue glossy enamel
Across the kitchen floor
You said, “Good God, look at that pattern
I’ve never seen that before”
Leave it like it is
Never mind the turpentine
Leave it like it is
It’s fine
Now when the paint dried
You gave it a title
You called it “Kitchen Blue”
A white frame painted around it
And gallery lighting too
Rich folks come over to dinner
They all want one of their own
They say “How much? Who’s the artist”
And, “My what a beautiful home”
Leave it like it is
Never mind the turpentine
Leave it like it is
It’s fine
Now most folks suffer in sorrow
Thinking they’re just no good
They don’t match the magazine model
As close as they think they should
They live just like the “paint by numbers”
The teacher would be impressed
A life-time of follow the lines
So it’s just like all of the rest
Leave it like it is
Never mind the turpentine
Leave it like it is
It’s fine
Off of the table
You watched as it started to fall
Glass popped, shattered and splattered
And paint spray hit the wall
Bright, blue glossy enamel
Across the kitchen floor
You said, “Good God, look at that pattern
I’ve never seen that before”
Leave it like it is
Never mind the turpentine
Leave it like it is
It’s fine
Now when the paint dried
You gave it a title
You called it “Kitchen Blue”
A white frame painted around it
And gallery lighting too
Rich folks come over to dinner
They all want one of their own
They say “How much? Who’s the artist”
And, “My what a beautiful home”
Leave it like it is
Never mind the turpentine
Leave it like it is
It’s fine
Thinking they’re just no good
They don’t match the magazine model
As close as they think they should
They live just like the “paint by numbers”
The teacher would be impressed
A life-time of follow the lines
So it’s just like all of the rest
Leave it like it is
Never mind the turpentine
Leave it like it is
It’s fine
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This is a great song about painting outside the lines, figuratively speaking. The metaphor is very simple through the whole thing; all explained in the 7th and 8th verses. Everyone is obsessed with being something different, whether it be cool or rich or accepted or normal or whatever, we're all trying to stay in those invisible lines, but-- no, don't do that, he says. Leave it like it is -- you are who you are, and if you go outside the lines, then you end up with something unique and different, and It's fine.
Love that song.
I recommend this song and Baz Luhrmann's 'Everybody's free to wear sunscreen' for advice... But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine. Do. Not. Read. Beauty. Magazines. They. Will. Only. Make. You. Feel. Ugly.