Song Description
A teacher realizes a child is being abused by the artwork he does in school.
| Song Length |
3:58 |
Genre |
Folk - Contemporary, Folk - Alternative |
| Tempo |
Medium Slow (91 - 110) |
Lead Vocal |
Male Vocal |
| Mood |
Poignant, Heartbreaking |
Subject |
Teachers, Sadness |
| Similar Artists |
James Taylor, Tracy Chapman |
Language |
English |
| Era |
2000 and later |
| |
Lyrics
A pictures worth a thousand heartbreaking words
This young artist is trying his patience
Some cries for help never get heard
And blamed on a child?s imagination
He?s not Freud and he?s not Jung
He?s just a 2nd grade teacher
Holding a picture that won?t be hung
On some proud mom?s refrigerator
Mr. Ballentine,
You better buy more red
It?s all that Danny uses
What?s got in that boy?s head
Mr. Ballentine
It?s only crayons and chalk
You sharpen every morning
Now they?re getting too blunt to talk
It?s just color combinations
He never claimed to be a critic
It?s all in interpretation
There?s no need to get political
About personal business
What should a stranger do
When a parent paints his little artist
Black and blue CHORUS:
Who hasn?t sinned among us
What does one man have to prove
There are a thousand sadder stories
Hanging in the Louvre
Talk yourself into one more phone call
'cause some things are best not left alone
Set a fire underneath a family
And pray not to burn down the home
CHORUS: