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Michael In The Garden Lyrics

MICHAEL IN THE GARDEN

Ralph McTell

Out in the garden, amongst the bushes, Michael is crying.
Caught in a spider's web, it's broken wings beating, a butterfly dying.
Oh la, la, la, la, la, la, la.. la, la, la, la, la, la, la
And they in their wisdom say
"Michael's got something wrong, wrong, wrong with his mind".
Well they must be blind, if they can't see what Michael sees.

Michael is silent, talking to no one of things that he sees.
But out in the garden, he talks in soft whispers, like the wind in the leaves.
Oh la, la, la, la, la, la, la.. la, la, la, la, la, la, la
And they in their wisdom say
"Michael's got something wrong, wrong, wrong with his mind".
They've seen the signs, but they can't see what Michael sees.

And inside the building someone is calling his name through the halls.
But he doesn't answer, though he easily hears each leaf as it falls.
Oh la, la, la, la, la, la, la.. la, la, la, la, la, la, la
And they in their wisdom say
"Michael's got something wrong, wrong, wrong with his mind".
Well they must be blind, for they can't see what Michael sees.

Michael where are you ?
Michael where are we
We who see that there's something wrong with your mind ?

And inside the garden Michael is smiling, at peace in his world.
At one with the insects, the flowers, and the trees, and the wind and the birds
Oh la, la, la, la, la, la, la.. la, la, la, la, la, la, la

Oh Michael sees all
Behind the high walls,
Surrounding his kingdom,
Whilst we in our wisdom
Still trapped in the spider's web
Far from the flow and ebb
Of life in the garden
But Michael has pardoned (?)
Asked for he sees
That really he's free
And there's nothing to mend
For his wings are not broken

And they in their wisdom say
"Michael's got something wrong, wrong, wrong with his mind".
They've seen the signs, but Michael feels fine inside the garden
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Cover art for Michael In The Garden lyrics by Ralph McTell

It makes some very good points that I didn't really get until I listened to it a couple times...

"They must be blind, because they can't see what Michael sees" stands out to me. Just because a person can't do everything another person can do, doesn't mean that person is miserable.

This message is particularly important to share now that people are trying to invent a way to screen babies to check if they are autistic before they are born. I am getting very angry at the way neurotypical people claim they are helping autistic people by preventing them from being born. I'm autistic, sure, I have a little trouble getting along in a predominantly neurotypical world, but I wouldn't prefer to have never been born! Speak for yourselves, snooty NT's!

Cover art for Michael In The Garden lyrics by Ralph McTell

I've read somewhere that it was written about a relative of Ralph's, his brother-in-law I think. It's a great song.

Cover art for Michael In The Garden lyrics by Ralph McTell

My dad loved this song, and I remember being very small & him explaining to me that it was about an autistic person. (I don't remember if that was his own interpretation or if it came from somewhere else.)

We didn't know, at the time, that either of us were autistic. Now I know, and he's not here to talk to about it, and I wish he was.

@fredsmith1

Are you the gentleman that left a comment recently on the youtube video of this song stating it was about autism? Thanks for sharing that. Finding out I am autistic hasn't been easy as I learned about it a few years ago. I'm just starting to pull myself out of a massive burnout that almost ended up taking my life somewhat inadvertently

 
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