Strawbs - Hanging In The Gallery lyrics

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Is it the painter or the picture<br />

Hanging in the gallery?<br />

Admired by countless thousands<br />

Who attempt to read the secrets<br />

Of his vision of his very soul.<br />

Is it the painter or the picture<br />

Hanging in the gallery?<br />

Or is it but a still life<br />

Of his own interpretation<br />

Of the way that God had made us<br />

In the image of His eye?<br />

<br />

Is it the sculptor or the sculpture<br />

Hanging in the gallery?<br />

Touched by fleeting strangers<br />

Who desire to feel the strength of hands<br />

That realised a form of life.<br />

Is it the sculptor or the sculpture<br />

Hanging in the gallery?<br />

Or is it but the tenderness<br />

With which his hands were guided<br />

To discard the unessentials<br />

And reveal the perfect truth?<br />

<br />

Is it the actor or the drama<br />

Playing to the gallery?<br />

Heard in every corner<br />

Of the theatre of cruelty<br />

That masks the humour in his speech.<br />

Is it the actor or the drama<br />

Playing to the gallery?<br />

Or is it but the character<br />

Of any single member of the audience<br />

That forms the plot<br />

Of each and every play?<br />

<br />

Is it the singer or his likeness<br />

Hanging in the gallery?<br />

Tongue black, still and swollen,<br />

His eyes staring from their sockets,<br />

He is silent now, will sing no more.<br />

Is it the singer or his likeness<br />

Hanging in the gallery?<br />

Or is it but his conscience,<br />

Insecurity, and loneliness,<br />

When destiny becomes at last<br />

The cause of his demise?