God Said: "Let There be Artists"
(But She Forgot to Add the Word "Paid")

When I was a little kid
My parents would get me up at night
To come and sing for their friends
Curly red/gold hair, three years old
I was everybody’s heart’s delight
I’d pass around my piggy bank
Collect a few pennies to spend
Art seemed easy in those days
I thought "Wow- you can sing and get paid!
This is what I’ll do when I’m big
I’m just gonna go around from place to place
and write songs and sing"
But I’ve learned Art ain’t easy
Art is hard
And after all this time
They’re still only putting a few pennies in my jar.
Yeah people love my Art
It's just hard getting paid for it

People want Art to stick on their walls,
Want music and dance for their Concert Halls
Want to see a play it took years to write
Pass away the time on a Saturday night

Yeah when god said “Let There Be Artists…”
she forgot to add the word ‘paid’

Art has always had the capacity to change the world
Up to the present day, revolutionary songs
are the first things forbidden in repressive states
because even dictators appreciate Music can galvanize nations…
And great civilizations in history are always judged
by the quality of music, Art and writings left behind
So isn’t it ironic that 99 point 9 percent of Artists
are never recognized in their time?
Remember Mozart? He died destitute;
buried in a pauper’s grave at the age of thirty five
Yeah people loved his Art…
They just didn’t want to pay for it when he was alive

People want Art to stick on their walls,
Want music and dance for their Concert Halls
Want to see a play it took years to write
Pass away the time on a Saturday night
The fourth largest industry in the world today
There’s money to be made In the entertainment trade …
Just not usually by the Artists
And the fastest way to get your name in lights,
is to burn your flame so god damn bright,
It kills you …right?
That’s the way to get famous…
All you gotta do is die….
Then everybody buys your CD
Laments your passing
They take the jar you put your pennies in
And stick it in some Folk Music Hall of Fame
People will pay fifteen bucks to see it there…
talk about your passion
Discuss how sad it was you went that way
in such an untimely fashion.
They’ll claim you as a National Treasure
Now that you’re dead…. It’s entirely their pleasure
Oh yeah people will love your Art
But you still won’t get paid for it.

People want Art to stick on their walls,
Want music and dance for their Concert Halls
Want to see a play it took years to write
Pass away the time on a Saturday night
Yeah when god said “Let There Be Artists…”
She forgot to add the word ‘paid’

Now I’ve been to plenty of places where
More than a hundred people are watching me play
But at the end of the night, twenty five dollars is my take home pay
Or I’ve had to put out a 50 buck registration fee just to audition
for a festival… plus food and gas and a place to stay –
You do the math
Or I’ve played for nothing at all because after all
it’s a benefit for the homeless
who are always just one step away from me
Yeah, the organizers say, but, it’s good exposure
but exposure don’t pay the rent - it ain’t free
and when it’s cold outside it don’t convert into heat
So why do I play when it barely keeps
a roof over my guitar?
Because it’s what I do… it’s my Art
Oh and, yeah, people love my Art…..
They say ‘some day I think you might be a star
And when you are… I’ll invite you over to meet my relatives
And I’ll say I knew you way back when
I was just putting a few pennies in your jar
Oh and by the way
I really love your work… ‘

Yeah people want Art to stick on their walls,
Want music and dance for their Concert Halls
Want to see a play it took years to write
Pass away the time on a Saturday night
Yeah people love my Art
It's just hard getting paid for it.

And when god said ‘Let There Be Artists…’
She forgot to add the word paid