Rice and beans
I’ll cook you in so many ways
When I make my millions
Will never again look your way
Bananas and protein shakes are all I can afford
No entertainment money for when I get bored
Take the bus to Whole Foods for sample hour
Dumper dive if my finances get really dire
Being a starving artist sucks
A surplus of stress and not enough bucks
“Hey, do you want to work for free?”
Hell no, don’t you know my bills require money?!
I tell my bartender that I work for the mayor
In hopes that he’ll slip me a free cocktail
Sign up for an online dating site
Maybe some dude will buy me a beer and a bite
Why do they price the middle class out of the coolest towns?
When it’s us who bring personality to their grounds.
My credit card is maxed so I tear apart the couch cushions
Checks are bouncing, my luck I am pushing
“Since the last time we met you’ve gotten even skinner.”
That’s what happens when you can’t afford to buy yourself dinner!
On rent day I gather some stuff to sell
As I tell those student loan collectors to go to hell
“Don’t you know that I’m a creative genius?
For that maybe you could be a little more lenient?”
“I don’t care if you write the next Catcher in the Rye!”
Said my dear landlord who just wants her check signed
Where are mom and dad when I need a loan?
My financial skills I really need to hone
Being a starving artist is tough
Preferably find a rich partner or come from a trust fund
They say that life should have no regrets
Yet I question this when a pack of cigarettes
Forces me to empty the change jar
I work three jobs yet I am always poor!
Slinging booze just to flip the bills
Until my big break it’s only time I kill
I am a starving artist through and through
‘Cause when you have this much passion
What else are you gonna do?
Disclaimer: I love my job and wouldn’t have wanted life to go any other way. That being said, this is a relatively true portrait with insight gathered from my own experience as well as my neighbors at the Ryman Artist Lofts.
