Nathan La Franeer - Joni Mitchell

I hired a coach to take me from confusion to the plane

And though we shared a common space I know I’ll never meet again

The driver with his eyebrows furrowed in the rear-view mirror

I read his name and it was plainly written Nathan La Franeer

I asked him would he hurry

But we crawled the canyons slowly

Thru the buyers and the sellers

Thru the burglar bells and the wishing wells

With gangs and girly shows

The ghostly garden grows

The cars and buses bustled thru the bedlam of the day

I looked thru window-glass at streets and Nathan grumbled at the grey

I saw an aging cripple selling Superman balloons

The city grated thru chrome-plate

The clock struck slowly half-past-noon

Thru the tunnel tiled and turning

Into daylight once again I am escaping

Once again goodbye

To symphonies and dirty trees

With parks and plastic clothes

The ghostly garden grows

He asked me for a dollar more

He cursed me to my face

He hated everyone who paid to ride

And share his common space

I picked my bags up from the curb

And stumbled to the door

Another man reached out his hand

Another hand reached out for more

And I filled it full of silver

And I left the fingers counting

And the sky goes on forever

Without meter maids and peace parades

You feed it all your woes

The ghostly garden grows

1968 Siquomb Publishing Co. (BMI)