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The Carnival Is Over Lyrics
Outside
The storm clouds gathering,
Moved silently along the dusty boulevard.
Where flowers turning crane their fragile necks
So they can in turn
Reach up and kiss the sky.
They are driven by a strange desire
Unseen by the human eye
Someone is calling.
I remember when you held my hand
In the park we would play when the circus came to town.
Look! Over here.
Outside
The circus gathering
Moved silently along the rainswept boulevard.
The procession moved on the shouting is over
The fabulous freaks are leaving town.
They are driven by a strange desire
Unseen by the human eye.
The carnival is over.
We sat and watched
As the moon rose
For the very first time.
The storm clouds gathering,
Moved silently along the dusty boulevard.
Where flowers turning crane their fragile necks
So they can in turn
Reach up and kiss the sky.
They are driven by a strange desire
Unseen by the human eye
Someone is calling.
I remember when you held my hand
In the park we would play when the circus came to town.
Outside
The circus gathering
Moved silently along the rainswept boulevard.
The procession moved on the shouting is over
The fabulous freaks are leaving town.
They are driven by a strange desire
Unseen by the human eye.
The carnival is over.
We sat and watched
As the moon rose
For the very first time.
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I think it not a somber tune but of melancholy. So many things when we are young we take for granted as to why they do what they do. Man, animal, flora, fauna keep this world moving around us and at first we merely accept and do not ponder as to why. But when we slow down we begin to wonder what drives people to acts of selfless kindness or frightened anger. What motivates the flower to follow the sun or the 'fabulous freaks' of the carnival to continue on, often in a physically demanding, risky job with little pay or comforts. Simply the drive to perform? The 'strange desires' that propel them strike us all with wonder. Upon this sort of reflection, I think, something as common as seeing the moon rise, can feel like seeing ti for the first time.
Sounds like reminiscence. Very nostalgic. Could either be about someone he once loved or the past in general.
"Procession moves on, the shouting is over" is from the Joy Division song "The Eternal"
It's strange, but I heard this song first in 1994 when the cruelties in Rwanda were at the peak and tenthousands of people were killed every day. I had to stop my car to breathe, so appropriate it was. Storm clouds gathering: Something gloomy going to happen. Driven by a strange desire: The unexplainable drive to kill fellow men. As for the word carnival, we could read carnage. Of course they didn't mean it like this, but personally it will remain connected
Being a little middle aged, my mind is perhaps not as prone to think in terms of the Springtime of life, loves labors, or finding oneself. My interpretation then, is more reflective of a life nearly complete. The Carnival is life itself, and the remembrances and images in both video and lyrics harken to a recall that interprets a past that is both sad and full of illusion. Let's face it we clothe ourselves in disguises that we find easiest which allow the greatest security and acceptance. Life is a little like that. But there is also a strong sense that the afterlife will be frolicsome, open to joy, and regret free.
@Courserun I'm in agreement with much of your interpretation. Younger people interpret it according to their experience. As they should. I'm going with the 'carnival as a metaphor for the labors and strife of life'.
@Courserun I'm in agreement with much of your interpretation. Younger people interpret it according to their experience. As they should. I'm going with the 'carnival as a metaphor for the labors and strife of life'.
This song at first glance could be just about the ending of a carnival, but having heard many Dead Can Dance songs, I find it hard to take any of their lyrics so literally. I feel this is about more broadly speaking; those non conformist, unconventionally, don't give a f*ck what the world thinks types of people who exist as they please, who say to hell with the mainstream. {They are driven by a strange desire Unseen by the human eye Someone is calling.}
It's about whatever motivates them to be as unique as they are, is also what makes them who they are, what eventually defines them...society doesn't define them, they are above that.
The song is about people who are different who some may define as freaks, but are actually some of the most beautiful & extraordinary souls one could ever meet. {The fabulous freaks are leaving town.
They are driven by a strange desire Unseen by the human eye. The carnival is over.} Sadly these are the types of individuals communities often drive out or make feel less then welcome so they often feel they must pick up and move along or risk possibly being ousted by force.
My interpretaion of this song is that Brian is recalling a lost love or a time tattooed into his memory of why he loves the one he is with. Either they are no longer together or they are having troubled times: "Outside, the storm clouds gathering moved silently along the dusty boulevard" this lyric fragment, other lyrics in the song and the song title I think are a metaphor for this great moment in time they shared moving on to another pair, another town. So that others can feel the same kind of happiness and love...
BrokenImperfect - I think you are correct 100%. I feel the exact same way abotu this song and its meaning. I adore DcD.
I have not much idea what this song is 'about' but I love it - it does something to me.
I love the refrain. Guessing that the key to the song has someting to do with that refrain being applied to both flowers and circus freaks. There's something that ties them together. Moonlapse Vertigo (above) might be onto something. Maybe the singer sees something splendidly natural in the circus people, mysterious and strange though they seem.
Yeah, can't really comment on what it might be a metaphor for, if at all. But the line 'driven by a strange desire' sticks with me.
Hm, or is the 'they' in the first refrain referring to the stormclouds, not the flowers?