A teenage girl makes headlines

In the Seattle news

For questioning religion

In nineteen thirty-two

Frances Farmer was her name

She had ideas in her head

They tried to stop her crazy dreams

She never heard a word they said

(They told her)



Chors:

Paint by numbers

Color in the lines

March in rhythm

Never out of time

Paint by numbers

Walk in single file

Learn the system

Conform to the style



To Hollywood she travelled

To be an actress there

And everyone was dazzled

By her beauty and her flair

But Frances wasn't satisfied

With all the money and the fame

They tried to teach her all the rules

But she refused to play the game

(Didn't want to)



(Chorus)



But that's not how Picasso painted

That's not how Beethoven played

They rearranged tradition

And history was made

That's not how Picasso painted

That's not how Beethoven played

They dared to be different

And did it their own way



They locked away poor Frances

Told her she was insane

And shocked her with the treatments

That slowly killed her brain

But her spirit lives with me

And that is why I sing this song

'Cause when a brilliant mind is put away

My senses tell me something's wrong

(When they tell you to)



(Chorus