I'm standing at a traffic light somewhere in west L.A.
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Waiting for the sign to change then I'll be on my way
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The noise, the heat, the crush of cars just robs me of my nerve
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Then someone yells and blasts their horn and pins me to the curb
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I'm a stranger here, no one you would know
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My ship has not come in, but I keep hoping though
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And I keep looking past the sun that sets above
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Saying to myself goodnight America
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And I am driving into Houston on a rain-slicked Texas road
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Land so flat and sky so dark I say a prayer to float
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Should all at once the San Jacinto surge beyond its banks
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Like Noah reaching higher ground I'd offer up my thanks
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'Cause I'm a stranger here, no one you would know
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I'm just passing through, I am therefore I go
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The moon rose in the east, but now it's right above
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As I say aloud goodnight America
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Midnight, it's hard to see the stars
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Out on a highway near Atlanta full of strip malls & used cars
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First light, just roll your window down and smell
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The salty air perfume of Charleston town
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Well I'm looking with a pilgrim's eyes upon some promised land
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I'm dreaming with my heart outstretched as if it were my hand
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And I'll hit the Cross Bronx just in time to beat the rush hour lock
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But I got no clue what time it is from this world's busted clock
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Yeah I'm a stranger here, no one you would know
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I'm from somewhere else, isn't everybody though
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I don't know where I'll be when the sun comes up
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But till then sweet dreams, goodnight America
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Goodnight America
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Mary Chapin Carpenter |