Carnival

About Carnival

"Carnival" is a 1995 song written and produced by singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant and was the lead single from her debut solo album Tigerlily. In the lyrics, the protagonist compares the many colorful sights and sounds of day-to-day life in New York City to a carnival. Merchant was inspired to write the song after visiting the city for the first time when she was 16, claiming she was fascinated with the residents' unusual lifestyles, as she has grown up in the country. The single was released to US radio in summer 1995 and reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Marchant's highest-charting solo single in the US. It is also her most successful hit in Australia, peaking at number 24 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and her third-most successful song in Canada (after "Wonder" and "Jealousy"), where it reached number 17. The single received a radio edit cutting the song down from the six-minute LP version. The video for the song, directed by Melodie McDaniel, shows scenes of Merchant walking the streets of New York City taking street photographs with a Leica M3. more »

Year:

1995

5:58

215 Views

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Well, I've walked these streets
A virtual stage, it seemed to me
Makeup on their faces
Actors took their places next to me

Well, I've walked these streets
In a carnival, of sights to see
All the cheap thrill seekers vendors and the dealers
They crowded around me

Have I been blind have I been lost
Inside myself and my own mind
Hypnotized, mesmerized by what my eyes have seen?

Well, I've walked these streets
In a spectacle of wealth and poverty
In the diamond markets the scarlet welcome carpet
That they just rolled out for me

And I've walked these streets
In the madhouse asylum they can be
Where a wild-eyed misfit prophet
On a traffic island stopped and he raved of saving me

Have I been blind, have I been lost
Inside myself and my own mind
Hypnotized, mesmerized by what my eyes have seen

Have I been wrong, have I been wise
To shut my eyes and play along
Hypnotized, paralyzed by what my eyes have found
By what my eyes have seen
What they have seen?

Have I been blind
Have I been lost
Have I been wrong
Have I been wise
Have I been strong
Have I been hypnotized, mesmerized by what my eyes have found
In that great street carnival

Have I been blind
Have I been lost
Have I been wrong
Have I been wise
Have I been strong
Have I been hypnotized, mesmerized by what my eyes have found
In that great street carnival

In that carnival

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Natalie Merchant

Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She joined the alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and left it to begin her solo career in 1993. more »

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