You Can’t Spell “Canvas” Without “Cans”: The Joyful Mess of Songs About Painting
Let’s be honest: when most people think of songs about painting, they imagine a gentle ballad dedicated to watercolors, maybe a love song to Van Gogh’s sunflowers. But a quick splash into music history reveals a world far weirder, wilder, and more colorful—and yes, sometimes amusingly offbeat—than a Bob Ross masterclass. Put down your paint thinner, folks, and let’s groove (and giggle) our way through the grand (and often messy) intersection of music and painting!
First things first, painting and songwriting share a DNA. Both are creative acts where artists attempt to express their inner visions—whether those visions involve the cosmic swirling of starry nights or just a cat sitting in a fruit bowl. Some musicians are so enthusiastic about blurring lines (pun fully intended) that they actually pick up brushes themselves. Take Jon Reddick, for example. If his album covers evoke a sort of spiritual finger-painting, that’s because he painted them! As Reddick says, music and painting are “inseparable” for him, each feeding the other’s creativity. Want your worship songs with a side of pop-culture portraiture? He’s got Spider-Man in oil paints. Remind me to commission a painting of myself listening to Jon Reddick, reclining on a chaise lounge, surrounded by abstract shapes and possibly snacks.
Jon’s not the only one mixing palettes and pitches. Art angels fly everywhere—sometimes literally, sometimes through sound waves. Grimes, whose album Art Angels celebrates its tenth anniversary, didn’t just paint by the numbers. She threw the entire paint set at pop music, creating tracks that veer from rap-rock freakouts to shimmering synthpop—each song a brushstroke on her musical canvas. On “Belly Of The Beat” and “Pin,” she crafts acoustic wonderlands fit for a gallery show. And let’s not forget her declaration of independence on “California” (that’s a diss track with the tinge of watercolor melancholia). If painting is a dreamy defiance against the mundane, Grimes splashes rebellion across every track.
When Songs Paint Pictures—Or Use Very Large Metaphors
But not all songs about painting are literally about braving a Michaels aisle for the perfect shade of ochre. Sometimes the act of painting becomes a metaphor in music—a way of describing emotion, life stories, or even a midlife crisis. Vanessa Williams’ memories of her dad playing flute in “Colour My World” are a poignant example. As she describes the emotive arrangement, the song itself becomes a canvas for nostalgia, sadness, and musical storytelling—the brushstrokes being notes, not oils. Her comments remind us that the beauty of a painting, much like a song, is in the feelings it conjures as much as the colors it displays. If you listen closely, that flute solo is a masterpiece of heartbreak.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Abegg and Kevin Max transform their personal journeys directly into visual art. Abegg, whose sight was dimmed by macular degeneration, paints what he can barely see, proving that artistic passion is looser than a toddler’s grip on a paintbrush. His works, abstract or figurative, are rooted in “curiosity, whimsy and simple beauty”—the same qualities often found in his music.
Painting, in songs, sometimes signals transformation itself. Take tribal land acknowledgements at Lane School, where Indigenous traditions infuse mural art with living music. At the unveiling, teaching through drumming, dancing and painting merged to “breathe life into words that continue to rise despite centuries of attempted erasure.” Social songs, healing dances—heck, even a two-step rabbit dance. The mural isn’t just visual décor; it’s a tune, a learning circle, a “heartbeat strong.” Suddenly, painting and melody are dancing together, lunch money in hand, ready to make the school lobby the coolest place since the Renaissance.
Eurovision: Where Formula Meets Finger Paint—and Sometimes, Oddity Wins
Of course, sometimes songs about painting are more about technique than inspiration. Consider the Eurovision Song Contest. Entire songwriting camps have created what might be the most formulaic “paint-by-numbers” pop tunes known to mankind. The quest for the ultimate average Eurovision song led to a tongue-in-cheek mathematical study—Spotify stats measured loudness, happiness, danceability, and energy. What does this have to do with painting? Well, the process isn’t so different from mixing paints on a palette. Eurovision experiments with genres and parameters much like artists try out colors and brushes. The “most average” song, Olly Alexander’s “Dizzy,” checked all the boxes (and won zero public votes—imagine an award ceremony where the best painting gets hung behind a curtain).
Yet, authenticity always upstages technique. “Spirit in the Sky” used the same musical building blocks as “Dizzy,” but its unique storytelling made it a fan favorite. It’s as if Eurovision entries were paintings—some are photorealistic, some are wild splashes of color, but the ones that stick are those with personality. As Luxembourg’s Assistant Head of Delegation wisely declared, “for authenticity…there is no price.”
Painting the World with Song—The Playlist You Never Knew You Needed
What makes songs about painting so deliciously unpredictable? Sometimes the musician’s studio and the artist’s easel are one and the same. Other times, the music itself provides a vivid picture in the mind—a story to visualize, a mood to paint with mental colors. Angela Bofill’s “Under the Moon and Over the Sky” lets listeners “visualize what they’re painting with their vocals,” Vanessa Williams says. Maysa’s “Can We Change the World?” uses music as a brush for change—a call to action as much as an artistic statement.
So, what are the key strokes in the masterpiece called “songs about painting”? There’s authenticity: whether it’s Jon Reddick’s pop-culture canvases or Grimes synthesizing rebellion, the best songs splash real feeling across every note. There’s storytelling: like Williams and Abegg, music that paints pictures in your head becomes unforgettable. And there’s the satisfying messiness, the genre collisions, the boldness to try new colors—even if sometimes, Eurovision proves, you end up coloring outside the lines and scoring zero points for your effort.
Next time you hear a song about painting—or better yet, one that feels like a painting—celebrate those flaws, those exuberant brushstrokes, and remember that art, in any form, flourishes on imperfection and personality. Whether in the Eurovision limelight, an indie pop revolution, or just a living room full of music teachers and flutes, the intersection of painting and song isn’t just a theme for a playlist—it’s a celebration of creativity unchained. Go ahead. Turn up the music, grab a brush, and don’t be afraid of a little joyful mess.
