Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble Ancient footprints are everywhere You can almost think that you're seeing 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 wasting time Oh, those mighty kings of the jungle I could hardly stand to see them Yes, it sure has been a long, hard climb Train wheels running through the back of my memory
When I ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese Someday, everything is going to be smooth like a rhapsody When I paint my masterpiece Sailing around the world in a dirty gondola Oh, to be back in the land of Coca-Cola! I left Rome and landed in Brussels In a plane ride so bumpy that I almost cried Clergymen in uniform and young girls pulling muscles Everyone was there to greet me when I stepped inside Newspapermen eating candy When I had to be held down by big police Someday, everything is going to be different When I paint my masterpiece