Garden Of Lavender

Was on a flight home from—well, it doesn't matter

Eleven hours, a million thoughts were gathered

And my mind kept racing to my garden of lavender

I wanted to get to them so they wouldn't die

When I got home, they were dry as weed

While the vines wrapped around them B-horror film green

I'm not sure what my lavender symbolized

But inside my heart cried

And my heart is drawn to the small out-of-the-way things

That I can't help but to give my focus and attention and care

Cause they shut off and [?] hijack my brain

Help to tune out what [?] can cause me pain

And I care for the animals that gather 'round my yard

And my sister's children and I care for my garden

I'm swarmed upon by bumblebees

And yellow jackets and wasps and hornets that dart out and sting

I see the big orange tabby cat

Getting warm on the cover of the laptop

He turns over on his back

Looking for a belly rub

I see the deer trap

And the snow on the end of the path

That leads into my backyard

I hear the sound of my girlfriend's car

Coming up the driveway and it fills my heart

With joy

Though I know it'll all end someday

And someone else will be sleeping in my mountain house

Wondering who lived here before

Just like I sometimes do

Though I've never really cared to explore

I see the chocolate and peanut butter cat

I look at him and he looks back

I snap my fingers and blow him a kiss

He rubs his head against my hand and we reminisce

I walk downtown and see the Christmas lights

Along the highway and how they shine

And I'm reminded of when I was a child

How happy I felt when I opened the box and saw a guitar inside

Was on a flight to somewhere that I can't remember

I feel like I lived so many lives, I can't put it all together

Dordrecht, Holland, yeah that was it

I had a nice dinner with a concert promoter and his Korean wife, Soo-Young Kim

He dropped me off at an old spooky hotel

I felt like an old man in a castle looking over at the canal

Then I went and I played for a crowd but my heart wasn't there

I came back to my room and I slouched in my bed

Still stewing about my dried up lavender

Then I fell asleep in the dark dead night

And I dreamed of a blue jay digging up a seed

And pass it to another's beak

Watched him soar to another branch

Then a possum [?] trash can

Then I woke up one rainy morning in Dordrecht, Holland

And I got on my flight for London, England

Then I took a cab from Heathrow right to Westfield Mall in Shepherd's Bush

Where I bought a raincoat, then checked into the K West Hotel

And ate at a Polish restaurant down the street

I played the next night at Shepherd's Bush Empire

Neil Halstead and his band were opening, their soundcheck sounded great

As I watched, I remembered playing with Mojave 3 in the mid-'90s

One of the shows being at CMJ in New York

And I remembered seeing them open for Gomez in Madrid in 1998

I was with my girlfriend Marina but I somehow managed to sneak in an unforgettable kiss with Rachel backstage

One of those kisses that you'll take to your grave

Gomez knew I was there, and they played "Grace Cathedral Park" that night and I got pretty choked up listening to them

So anyhow, I played my show at Shepherd's Bush that night and a fan heckled me asking if I really hated Nels Cline

I explained that I didn't, that his name just rhymed with one word or the other

After the show, I left with my agent, Ed, and his wife, and Alessia, and we talked for a bit

And I walked back to the K West with my guitar and got into my bed, called my girlfriend and fell asleep