The Birth of Venus – Botticelli

1453 – Birth of Simonetta Vespucci

1476 – Simonetta buried in Chiesa di San Salvatore Ognissanti, Florence

1485 – Botticelli paints Birth of Venus, modeled on his memory of Simonetta

1510 – Per his will, Botticelli buried at the foot of Simonetta’s tomb in Chiesa di San Salvatore, Ognissanti

Vocal – Elizabeth Ward Land

Backing vocals – Veronica Mansour, Elizabeth Ward Land

Electric guitar – Bernd Schoenhart

Acoustic guitar – Ted Stafford

Lead guitar – Gary Maurer

Bass – Yuka Tadano

Rhodes – Greg Pliska

Drums – Mark Brotter

Kiss my feet, Botticelli,

Lick the sand from the cracks between my toes,

Lift me up on a salty clamshell,

Isn’t that how your painting goes?

Curl my hair, Botticelli,

Wrap it red behind my shoulder,

Long, long, long, between my thighs,

Lying here for centuries,

Even now, I hear grown men and schoolboys cry,

Crying Venus,

Look at me, Venus,

Come to me, Venus,

Venus, why not me?

Just sixteen when I married,

Twenty-two when my blood froze and I died,

Sealed up in my mausoleum,

But you found a way inside.

Paint my lips, Botticelli,

Paint my gaze just past your shoulder,

Far, far, far, beyond reply.

Lying here for centuries,

Even now, I hear old women and schoolgirls cry,

Crying Venus,

Look at me Venus,

Come to me, Venus,

Venus, why not me?

You think I need your painting to know that I’m a god?

You think that loves comes easy,

With a wink and with a nod?

You think I asked for beauty, this Renaissance façade,

When the crowd stares at my nipples

Like a holy firing squad?

At my feet, Botticelli,

Bones and dust beneath the stones, like me,

Buried in the same dark chapel,

Is that immortality?

Curl my toes, Botticelli,

Make me rise out of the ocean,

Up, up, upward to the sky,

Lying here for centuries,

Even now I hear the angels and the guards

And the tourists

And the phantoms of forgotten artists cry,

Crying Venus,

Look at me, Venus,

Come to me, Venus,

Venus, why not me?

Venus,

Look at me, Venus,

Come to me, Venus,

Venus, why not me?

Venus,

I am your Venus,

Come to me Botticelli

Cry for me.

Cry with me.

Lie with me.