song written by Dave Cousins
 D              G         D
Is it the painter or the picture
Em                  D
Hanging in the gallery?
Em                      D
Admired by countless thousands
        Em                D
Who attempt to read the secrets
          G            A     
Of his vision of his very soul.
               G           D
Is it the painter or the picture
Em               D
Hanging in the gallery?
   Em            D
Or is it but a still life
        Em            D
Of his own interpretation
        Em               D
Of the way that God had made us
          G   A      D   
In the image of His eye?
             G             D
Is it the sculptor or the sculpture
Em                 D
standing  in the gallery?
Em                   D
Touched by fleeting strangers
     Em                  D
Who desire to feel the strength of hands
           G     A
That realised a form of life.
              G             D
Is it the sculptor or the sculpture
Em                D
standing in the gallery?
   Em              D
Or is it but the tenderness
        Em                  D
With which his hands were guided
      Em          D
To discard the unessentials
        G       A       D
And reveal the perfect truth?
             G           D
Is it the actor or the drama
Em               D
Playing to the gallery?
Em               D
Heard in every corner
          Em        D
Of the theatre of cruelty\par
      G               A
That masks the humour in his speech.
           G            D
Is it the actor or the drama
Em                 D
Playing to the gallery?
    Em             D
Or is it but the character
    Em         D              Em
Of any single member of the audience
      D
That forms the plot
    G        A     D
Of each and every play?
            G             D
Is it the singer or his likeness
Em               D
Hanging in the gallery?
Em                        D
Tongue black, still and swollen,
          Em                   D
His eyes staring from their sockets,
        G                A
He is silent now, will sing no more.
           G              D
Is it the singer or his likeness
Em              D
Hanging in the gallery?
    Em             D
Or is it but his conscience,
   Em              D
Insecurity, and loneliness,
      Em        D
When destiny becomes at last
        G  D  A    D
The cause of his demise?
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