| Listen up and I’ll tell a story | 
| About an artist growing old | 
| Some would try for fame and glory | 
| Others aren’t so bold | 
| Everyone, and friends and family | 
| Saying, «Hey! | 
| Get a job!» | 
| «Why do you only do that only? | 
| Why are you so odd? | 
| We don’t really like what you do | 
| We don’t think anyone ever will | 
| It’s a problem that you have | 
| And this problem’s made you ill.» | 
| Listen up and I’ll tell a story | 
| About an artist growing old | 
| Some would try for fame and glory | 
| Others aren’t so bold | 
| The artist walks alone | 
| Someone says behind his back | 
| «He's got his gall to call himself that! | 
| He doesn’t even know where he’s at!» | 
| The artist walks among the flowers | 
| Appreciating the sun | 
| He does this all his waking hours | 
| But is it really so wrong? | 
| They sit in front of their TVs | 
| Saying, «Hey! | 
| This is fun!» | 
| And they laugh at the artist | 
| Saying, «He doesn’t know how to have fun.» | 
| The best things in life are truly free | 
| Singing birds and laughing bees | 
| «You've got me wrong», says he | 
| «The sun don’t shine in your TV» | 
| Listen up and I’ll tell a story | 
| About an artist growing old | 
| Some would try for fame and glory | 
| Others aren’t so bold | 
| Everyone, and friends and family | 
| Saying, «Hey! | 
| Get a job!» | 
| «Why do you only do that only? | 
| Why are you so odd? | 
| We don’t really like what you do | 
| We don’t think anyone ever will | 
| It’s a problem that you have | 
| And this problem’s made you ill.» | 
| Listen up and I’ll tell a story | 
| About an artist growing old | 
| Some would try for fame and glory | 
| Others just like to watch the world |