Lyrics

Vincent Van Gogh made a painting of Dr Gachet
in 1890, just before he died
the doctor didn’t buy, it in fact Vincent Van Gogh
never sold a painting while he was alive.
It was 15 years later that Vincent’s brother Theo
sold the painting for a price that broke his heart
to a local art collector who sold it some years later
to a genuine dealer of art.

(chorus)
Now the painting Van Gogh couldn’t sell
has become too valuable
for anyone to ever see again
sterilized, humidified, safe from all the prying eyes
wouldn’t Van Gogh be surprised to see his work so highly prized today?
Or maybe he’d turn over in his grave...

Vincent Van Gogh rarely traveled, he never saw America
spent his whole life painting bridges and hay on farms
he didn’t go to cocktail parties or do commercial endorsements
or hit the town with starlets on his arm.
But the painting crossed some borders and the dealer made a profit
when he sold it to a German businessman
who took it to America when he emigrated
just before the Holocaust began.

In America the buinessman’s estate was liquidated,
and a corporate oil executive and his wife
bought the painting for an investment, and took a tax deduction
when he loaned it to a museum all his life.
Then America changed its tax laws and the oil executive’s widow
couldn’t deduct it so she had to change her plan
she put the Doctor up for auction, it sold for 50 million
to a certain businessman from Japan
who took it home to his place, where he’d designed an airless case
and the painting could be safely stored away
for some future businessman to see, but I believe that you and me
have seen the last of Dr Gachet.