I hired a coach to take me from confusion to the plane
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And though we shared a common space I know I'll never meet again
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The driver with his eyebrows furrowed in the rear-view mirror
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I read his name and it was plainly written Nathan La Franeer
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I asked him would he hurry
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But we crawled the canyons slowly
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Thru the buyers and the sellers
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Thru the burglar bells and the wishing wells
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With gangs and girly shows
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The ghostly garden grows
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The cars and buses bustled thru the bedlam of the day
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I looked thru window-glass at streets and Nathan grumbled at the grey
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I saw an aging cripple selling Superman balloons
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The city grated thru chrome-plate
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The clock struck slowly half-past-noon
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Thru the tunnel tiled and turning
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Into daylight once again I am escaping
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Once again goodbye
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To symphonies and dirty trees
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With parks and plastic clothes
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The ghostly garden grows
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He asked me for a dollar more
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He cursed me to my face
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He hated everyone who paid to ride
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And share his common space
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I picked my bags up from the curb
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And stumbled to the door
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Another man reached out his hand
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Another hand reached out for more
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And I filled it full of silver
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And I left the fingers counting
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And the sky goes on forever
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Without meter maids and peace parades
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You feed it all your woes
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The ghostly garden grows
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-----------------
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Nathan La Franeer
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| Joni Mitchell |