When all the help in the world won't get you by 
When all the friends that you lean on let you down, 
You'll wonder why 

I see you there with your painting box 
And your oils and brushes and your artist's smocks 
What'll you do if the Muse gets lost 
When I'm gone 

You painted me in the way you said you knew 
I don't believe that I saw myself 
In anything you drew 

I say you never quite caught it right 
You say you see me in a different fight 
What'll you do with your black and white 
When I'm gone 

You paint by numbers 
I never noticed it before 
You paint by numbers 
It's just a closing of an open door 
When you're looking round 
You won't see me no more 
You paint by numbers 

Staying here in this room just makes me pole 
I never really could fat into your geometric scale 
I see you measure my profile up 
And you mix your paints in a broken cup 

What'll you do if the brush gets stuck 
When I'm gone 

You paint by numbers 
I never noticed it before 
You paint by numbers 
It's just a closing of an open door 
When you're looking round 
You won't see me no more 
You paint by numbers