Songs
All the Rowboats
Description
"All the Rowboats" is a song originally composed, performed, recorded, and released by Regina Spektor. The song was first performed at at the Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles, CA on 2005-01-26. The song would then go on to be performed two more times in 2005 and not again until two more performances in 2011. A music video for "All the Rowboats" was released on YouTube on 2012-03-29, in anticipation of its release as the first single from the LP What We Saw from the Cheap Seats on 2011-05-29. The song saw its official album release the same day.
"All the Rowboats" was performed extensively in 2012 and 2013 in the tour supporting What We Saw from the Cheap Seats. The song was not played again until a sole performance ten years later on 2023-08-24 at Central Park SummerStage in New York, NY.
Official Releases
There are no known official releases associated with this song.
Music Videos
Demos
There are no known demos associated with this song.
Live Performances
This song has no known live performances.
Lyrics
All the rowboats in the paintings
They keep trying to row away
And the captains' worried faces
Stay contorted and staring at the waves
They'll keep hanging in their gold frames
For forever, forever and a day
All the rowboats in the oil paintings
They keep trying to row away, row away
Hear them whispering French and German
Dutch, Italian, and Latin
When no one's looking I touch a sculpture
Marble, cold and soft as satin
But the most special are the most lonely
God, I pity the violins
In glass coffins they keep coughing
They've forgotten, forgotten how to sing, how to sing
La da dada da, la da dada da, la
First there's lights out, then there's lock-up
Masterpieces serving maximum sentences
It's their own fault for being timeless
There's a price to pay and a consequence
All the galleries, the museums
Here's your ticket, welcome to the tombs
They're just public mausoleums
The living dead fill every room
But the most special are the most lonely
God, I pity the violins
In glass coffins they keep coughing
They've forgotten, forgotten how to sing
They will stay there in their gold frames
For forever, forever and a day
All the rowboats in the oil paintings
They keep trying to row away, row away
First there's lights out, then there's lock up
Masterpieces serving maximum sentences
It's their own fault for being timeless
There's a price to pay and a consequence
All the galleries, the museums
They will stay there forever and a day
All the rowboats in the oil paintings
They keep trying to row away, row away
All the rowboats in the oil paintings
They keep trying to row away, row away
Song Facts
Release Status:
Released
Originally By:
Original
Collaborators:
Solo
Alternate Titles:
N/A
Written:
Unknown
Demo:
N/A
First Official Release:
First Live Performance:
Last Live Performance:
Song Stats
First Known Date:
Last Known Date:
Time Between First Known Date and Last Known Date:
about 19 years and 6 months
Time Between First and Last Performance:
about 19 years and 6 months
# of Appearances on Official Releases:
2
# of Times Performed Live:
74
Themes & References
Trivia
Media Features
• "All the Rowboats" was featured on S01E17 of The CW's Ringer entitled "What We Have Is Worth the Pain" on 2012-03-13.
There are no known media features associated with this song.
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