| The lights went out in New York
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| Then they went out in Goshen
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| I got stuck in Goshen and that was sad
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| The townsfolk stared hard
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| Like their minds had been marred
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| By life in a district so downtrodden and drab
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| I flagged down a stranger
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| In a worn wooden wheelchair
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| And when I asked if he knew of a hotel
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| He said «if I get your meaning
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| Then I’m definitely leaning
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| Towards recommending the Farmer’s Hotel»
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| As I left to find the place
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| A mother looked me in the face
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| And whispered «please sir, not the Farmer’s Hotel»
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| Once where I was headed
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| She swore I would regret it
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| Though what might happen she wouldn’t foretell
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| The old place it was vicious
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| Wicked and pernicious
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| «Please stay clean of that rank abbatoir»
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| Though her words alarmed me
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| I was stuck until morning
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| And in the end we must be who we are
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| With no light on the door
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| I wasn’t quite sure
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| If a night clerk was working within
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| From behind a red curtain
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| Limped a perilous person
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| He appeared to have some egg on his chin
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| This old yankee warlock
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| Brushed back a gray forelock
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| And bid me to sign in the book
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| With no bonhomie
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| He proffered the key
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| Never once did he give me a look
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| I thanked the old codger
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| And in my role as the lodger
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| I headed upstairs for to sleep
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| There was no air of slumber
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| The doors, they had no numbers
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| Which room was intended for me?
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| The passage kept on going
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| Like the carpet was flowing
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| Towards that thing at the end of the hall
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| My own eyed had adjusted
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| This account can be trusted
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| Because I know that I saw what I saw
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| I heard animal noises
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| And tangled up voices
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| Chanting more and of rumors of more
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| There’s no natural law
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| That can explain what I saw
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| Spread out on that straw-covered floor
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| Now I’ve put an ocean
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| Between myself and Goshen
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| To get away from the Farmer’s Hotel
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| If you get a nation
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| To travel to Goshen
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| Please stay away from the Farmer’s Hotel
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| The lights went out in Goshen
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| Just like poetry in motion
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| And I checked into the Farmer’s Hotel
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| Things to unclean
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| Are better left unseen
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| Please keep away from the Farmer’s Hotel |