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The Art Teacher Lyrics

There I was in uniform
Looking at the art teacher
I was just a girl then;
Never have I loved since then

He was not that much older than I was
He had taken our class to the Metropolitan Museum
He asked us what our favorite work of art was,
But never could I tell it was him
Oh, I wish I could tell him --
Oh, I wish I could have told him

I looked at the Rubens and Rembrandts
I liked the John Singer Sargents
He told me he liked Turner
Never have I turned since then
No, never have I turned to any other man

All this having been said,
I married an executive company head
All this having been done, a Turner - I own one
Here I am in this uniformish, pant-suit sort of thing,
Thinking of the art teacher
I was just a girl then;
Never have I loved since then
No, never have I loved any other man
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Cover art for The Art Teacher lyrics by Rufus Wainwright

This song is so depressing, it's amusing that it came from such a lighthearted song. The piano makes it so mesmerizing.

Cover art for The Art Teacher lyrics by Rufus Wainwright

I heard this song is from a womens point of view.Like one of the "Art Teacher"'s former female students. I'd rather like to think it's from Rufus's point of view,but it doesnt matter.Genius is genius!

Cover art for The Art Teacher lyrics by Rufus Wainwright

I am in love with the song! I love the wit and clever wording. "He told me he liked Turner Never have I turned since then No, never have I turned to any other man" Genius! And the lines "He asked us what our favorite work of art was, But never could I tell it was him" are great too! And "here I am in this uniformish pant suit sort of thing." makes me crack up every time I hear it! Gahhh, his voice is stunning in this song!! (Well, it always is of course.) This song just makes me melt :]

Cover art for The Art Teacher lyrics by Rufus Wainwright

search for this song when rufus played it at "john harms" (whatever that is). he makes a really funny introduction about this art teacher he met at the gym, who told him details about some stories envolving the girl from the girl school he was teaching... it's really funny and you'll love the lyrics even more after hearing the story.

Cover art for The Art Teacher lyrics by Rufus Wainwright

This is actually my favorite song on Want Two. Such a great song.

Cover art for The Art Teacher lyrics by Rufus Wainwright

This is such a beautiful song

Cover art for The Art Teacher lyrics by Rufus Wainwright

I was highly amused the first the first time I heard this in hearing him sing "I was just a girl then." But this is definately one of my favorite songs by him.

Cover art for The Art Teacher lyrics by Rufus Wainwright

What a beautiful, sad song...so retrospective and filled with longing. Also really nice to listen to--this guy has so much talent with his voice. Doesn't he come from a musically inclined family--like opera singers and such? I think his sister sings backup on this album, too.

I also heard the story about Rufus running into this "cute" guy at the gym who happened to be an art teacher who had a female student with a crush on him. Rufus also said that he himself had a crush on this straight art teacher/gym buddy. And from that, he wrote this song.

Cover art for The Art Teacher lyrics by Rufus Wainwright

He also actually performed this song for that (straight) art teacher who was so popular with his female students. Apparently, the song went way over the teacher's head. He didn't understand it.

Cover art for The Art Teacher lyrics by Rufus Wainwright

Didn't understand it?!

...I totally relate. :(