What is Art?

by Daniel Kelly - 2021
C                    G
What is Art, what is art?
              F            C
Here’s an argument I’ll start,
G
Must it always be original,
F                  C
Created from the heart?
F                   G
Can I buy it from Ikea,
C          G         F
or at the Kwick-E-Mart
C                    G           C
What is art, what is art what is art?

C                       F            C
20,000 years ago, at Montignac in France,
G
Some people scratched upon the walls,
F                          C
Making stags and horses dance,
F                          G
Were they doing it for money,
C             G      F
Or putting on a show?
F                    C
Or was it just a menu,
C                    G    C
I guess we’ll never know.

What is Art, what is Art?
Am I doing art right now,
Though I probably stole the melody,
From another song somehow,
I didn’t write the language,
And I didn’t start the row,
What is art, what is art what is art

Those folks over in Malta,
They like their women large,
Immortalised in sculpture,
And maybe decoupage,
The beauty of 5000 years,
Preserved in fired clay,
Art that still endures,
And is relevant today.

What is Art, what is Art?
Who gets to decide,
Is it a matter of semantics?
Or really one of pride,
I think skill and expression,
Are good things to sit astride,
What is art, what is art what is art

Now Andy took a can of soup,
And slapped it on a page,
He didn’t even touch the thing,
But his art was all the rage,
Yes it was in the 60s,
When we really lost the plot,
Throw it in a dumpster,
And burn the flamin’ lot,

What is Art, what is art?
Here’s an argument I’ll start,
Must it always be original,
Created from the heart?
Can I buy it from Ikea,
or at the Kwick-E-Mart
What is art, what is art what is art?

That Eric Bogle writes his songs,
With such beautiful rhymes,
But to find all of those words himself,
He hasn’t got the time,
So he looks them up in someone’s book,
Should that now be a crime?
What is Art, What is Art, What is Art.

What is Art, what is Art?
Now my song is at an end,
I stole that from the Irish
Or was it just a lend?
So go and make your art I say,
For yourself or for a friend,
It is art, it is art it is art

It is art, it is art,
If you made it from the heart,
With your hands, or with
Computers, or tenticular parts,
If you bought it at Ikea,
Or at the Kwick-E-Mart,
It is art, it is art, it is art.