Painting by Numbers

The gates of the schoolyard Are padlocked and chained To keep all the children in out of the rain The art teacher's preaching The virtues of pastel shades You pay no attention but it won't hurt your grades Cause you're painting by numbers Connecting the dots They don't have to tell you You don't call the shots You jump when they say jump And you don't ask how high Cause painting by numbers they know you'll get by Painting by numbers they know you'll get by You take a position In the old man's firm He signs all the papers You agree to the terms They ley you run errands And you don't get days off You take off the garbage and hope it pays off Cause you're painting by numbers Connecting the dots You work from neck down You might be in grad school Up ut M.I.T You might be down in the canal zone Being all that you can be You might get to thinking you're ahead of the game But when you break it all down It all comes out the same Cause you're painting by numbers Connecting the dots You work from neck down