Vincent van Gogh

I'm fast getting fed up with failing at fame
it's been ten years and no one knows my name
I'm sick of the boring undignified slog
Hoping to see my name on some dumb blog
I'm tired of toiling in obscurity
that fate's just not fit for a genius like me
But maybe I'll make it big after I've died
I can't write it off til I give it a try

I think of the others now loved and well-known
who came to their ends destitute and alone
and after they checked out their fame only grew
proving that death is a wise career move
I'd like to be lauded posthumously
and make you all sorry for not listening to me
It worked for Nick Drake and for Edgar A. Poe,
Franz Schubert, John Toole, and Vincent van Gogh

I always heard
"If you build it they'll come"
but if that doesn't work
you can always try dying young

And every reviewer and critic will rave
after I'm laid into my early grave
I'll finally have the acclaim I deserve
and I will be grinning 'neath six feet of earth
Cause if I just vanish to sleep with the fish
I could be on a year-end top ten list
Though it would be fun to enjoy my renown
at least I'll look good when I'm put in the ground