The Distractions - Oil Painting lyrics

[Verse 1a] The walls are white, the corridors are clinically clean And no-one will tell you what they mean; These are also spaces in which mysteries occur Snapshots caught as shutters click and whir [Verse 1b] I came in here to see just how the other half are hung To hear how our history's hymns are sung While preparing for your preview you'll be slipping on a gown Loosening your hair to wear it down [Chorus 1] You may not be an oil painting Your loveliness may leave no lasting mark on mankind But as your face is framed I see a lifetime in it I'd not trade a single minute The camera does not lie; You are no oil painting But neither am I [Verse 2a] A girl floats past with hair aflame and lips of royal blue Soon you'll be horizontal, too And if have to carry you to church, I know you'll be no weight Get thee to an altar-rail before it is too late [Chorus 2] You may not be an oil painting Your loveliness may leave no lasting mark on mankind But as I scan your skin I see the lifelines beckon I'd not trade a single second The camera does not lie; You are no oil painting But neither am I [Middle] An everyday enigma caked in blood and yolk and white Did she ever rage against the dying of the light? Fossilised in amber, flaking from her smile Her looks were only leased to her awhile [Chorus 3] You may not be an oil painting Your loveliness may leave no lasting mark on mankind But with your thoughts laid out in colours blinking I catch myself for a second thinking: In spite of constant danger Life is so much stranger And somehow much more wonderful than art