Lyric discussion by joelseph 

The Decemberists are from Portland. There is a bus mall in Portland, which is is where, on 5th Ave and 6th Ave between SW Jefferson St and NW Irving St, public transport runs constantly and for free. The male prostitutes in this song are not travelling, so much as whoring around by using the free part of the public transit system to get around.

Wait, so what exactly is a bus mall?

The Portland Transit Mall (aka, the Bus Mall): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Transit_Mall

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