You know those art galleries
On fifth avenue? The prices they charge!
I saw one little picture that cost $50, 000!
They call it a-a Cezanne
Cezanne?
Oh, he was a great french painter
I'd like to own that painting

You would? For $50,000?
There's a noise upstairs in the attic
It's the shuffle of worn-out shoes
And the scent of the oil and the brushes
Drifts down like a pale perfume
And he says: I, I am a man, simple man

A man of colours
And I can see, see through the years
Years of a man
A man of colours

And the old man rubs his failing eyes
And takes a moment to watch the view
From a window nobody knows he's there
He can see the empty street below
And he says: I, I am a man, a simple man

A man of colours
And I can see, see through the years
Years of a man
A man of colours

He says: I keep my life in this paintbox
I keep your face in these picture frames
When I speak to this faded canvas
It tells me I have no need for words anyway
And he says: I, I am a man, a simple man

A man of colours
And I can see, see through the years
Years of a man
A man of colours
He says: I, I am a man, a simple man
A man of colours
And I can see, see through the tears
Tears of a man
A man of colours