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 that she'd be right there with me

when i paint my masterpiece

oh

the hours i've spent inside the coliseum

dodging lions and wastin' time

oh

those mighty kings of the jungle

i could hardly stand to see 'em

yes

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

everything is gonna be smooth like a rhapsody

when i paint my masterpiece

sailin' round the world in a dirty gondola

oh

to be back in the land of coca-cola!

i left rome and landed in brussels

on a plane ride so bumpy that i almost cried

clergymen in uniform and young girls pullin' muscles

everyone was there to greet me when i stepped inside

newspapermen eating candy

had to be held down by big police

someday

everything is gonna be diff'rent

when i paint my masterpiece