Garden Of Lavender - Sun Kil Moon

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

With eleven hours, a million thoughts were gathering

My mind kept going to my garden of lavender

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

When I got home, they were dry as wheat

While the vines thrived around them B-horror film green

Not sure what my lavender symbolize

But inside my heart cried

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 what hijacks my brain

And help to tune out what can cause me pain

And I care for the animals around my yard

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

Swarmed upon by bumblebees

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

I see the big orange tabby cat

Getting warm on the cover of the hot tub

He turns over on his back

Looking for a belly rub

I see the deer tracks in the snow

On the animal 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 will 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 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

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

Was on a flight to somewhere I can’t remember

I feel like I’ve 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, Suyoung Kim

Then dropped me off at an old spooky hotel

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

And I went and I played for a crowd but my heart wasn’t there

I came back to my room and slouched in my bed

And I fell asleep still stewing about my dried up lavender

And I fell asleep in the dark dead night

And I dreamed of a bluejay picking up a seed

And passing it to another’s beak

Then watched him soar to another branch

Then a baby possum hissed at me as I crept up on him near a trash can

And I woke up one rainy morning in Dordrecht, Holland

Then got on a 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 and their soundcheck sounded great

And 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

It was 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

Then I walked back to the K West with my guitar and got into my bed,

called my girlfriend and fell asleep