Artist: Bass P Album: Unreleased Song: "Salute to da Vinci" Verse 1: Hello, my name is Leonardo da Vinci I'm representin' Vinci, near Florence, Italy I was born in the year 1452 Forty years before Columbus sailed the ocean blue Now, I'm gonna tell you a lil' 'bout me I was a great artist as you will soon see It all started when my pops asked me If I would paint a picture of somethin' scary I said I would, so I got some materials Paint, stool, canvas, and easel I painted a monster made up of many different things From headless snakes to bats without wings When I showed it to my pops, he was so afraid He fled the room and didn't come back for days My pops now recognized my true talent I was fifteen years old, 'bout time he acknowledged it He sent me to live in Florence, Italy I became an apprentice and began my studies Andrea del Verrocchio was my master He was multi-talented and was a damn good painter Through many years of service to my master I learned as much as I could, so I could finish faster I received my artist guild in 1472 But I had only begun, I wasn't near bein' through I continued my work as a journeyman I lived with Verrocchio and was paid by him During these years, I assisted in his studio I helped him paint and I became well-known I helped him paint "The Baptism of Christ" I did most of the background, and it looks quite nice "The Annunciation" was my first solo painting It pictured Angel Gabriel and Mary accepting In 1483, I made a decision To leave everything behind and reach for a new ambition So I left Florence-town with little regret Leaving everything behind, off to Milan I went I wanted to expand my knowledge, you see Science, mathematics, and anatomy I still kept working and working on my art I had worked too hard to just give up and depart In 1495, I painted "The Last Supper" Took me three years to paint, it was a great adventure While I was in Milan, I wrote and wrote Over 7,000 pages I filled with notes These notebooks contained my astute observations From mechanics and astronomy to modes of transportation Verse 2: I created a method to conduct my deep studies It is still being used by scientists of all countries First, I would observe my object closely Then, I would repeat the process more slowly Now, I was ready to draw the thing Hoping the world would understand what I mean Also added some notes that were concise and brief I wrote them backwards--from right to left across the sheet I wrote 'em like that to hide my secrets From curious people who would spy in my leaflets Now I will relay all the stuff that I wrote Inventions, discoveries, bridges, and boats In the field of flight, here's what I drew Parachutes and a helicopter arial screw I also drew a flying machine It was a hang glider only with smaller wings I also wrote about aquatic things in the water I drew floating shoes and a life perserver My floating shoes were kinda like water skies You need balancing sticks in order to work these Another thing that I wrote about was war Drew a machine gun, a cannon, and much, much more My machine gun worked faster than any other weapon It could blow away fools that were always half-steppin' I also drew the very first tank It was a powerful machine that shot point blank I drew swinging bridges that helped defeat the enemy They were light, but strong, and were carried very easily Now off of that and onto anatomy It's time to take a lesson on the human body I studied and drew the human skeleton It was an accurate picture based on several dissections Next, I drew the eye of a human It showed its inner-workings and its number one function I also studied and drew the human heart I believed it pumped blood to different body parts Astronomy is the next subject at hand The sun and the stars were like another land My early notes on this subject that I wrote Gave hints that I had ideas for a telescope This concluded my lengthy notebooks I ceased writing and a long rest is what I took In 1500, I moved back to Florence, Italy This is where I finished my most famous painting The "Mona Lisa" is what this painting was called It was a mysterious painting that was loved by all The "Mona Lisa" was so famous that it even got stolen The man that stole it was caught and now in prison, he's rollin' Most of my paintings are now in museums So people everywhere can come and see them I cut off my ear then died at 67 In France, 1519, now I reside in heaven Copyright 1990 Peter A. Roselli