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Carnival Lyrics
Where in the world have you been
It's as strange as I've ever lived
So you're comin' along to the sideshow
I'll be fallin' all over like dominos
For girls are sad in their eyes
They're all standin' around bein' hypnotised
And walkin' me back to the firin' line
Ya smile to get in the door
Ya can't keep it closed anymore
Tell your ma that you're gone to the freakshow
I'm crawlin' all over the carnival
Just scratchin' a stitch in a skin
I'm moanin' for more of the medicine
In the mornin' you're wonderin' where ya been
Just turnin' your back to the ghost
And tryin' to look like you just might know
That all of the good that you've seen
Just went down and into the drain
Oh kids am I straight out for now
In the mornin' I'm gonna find it on out
What in the world can it be
It's as strange as I've ever seen
The girls are dead in their eyes
Just standin' around like they're hypnotised
Who'll follow me back to the freak show
I'm crawlin' all over the carnival
And I am gone
The kid's in a straight out for now
In the mornin' I'm want to find it on out
What in the world can it be
It's as strange as I've ever seen
The girls are dead in their eyes
Just standin' around like they're hypnotised
Who'll follow me back to the freak show
I'm crawlin' all over the carnival
And I am gone
It's as strange as I've ever lived
So you're comin' along to the sideshow
I'll be fallin' all over like dominos
For girls are sad in their eyes
They're all standin' around bein' hypnotised
And walkin' me back to the firin' line
Ya smile to get in the door
Ya can't keep it closed anymore
Tell your ma that you're gone to the freakshow
I'm crawlin' all over the carnival
Just scratchin' a stitch in a skin
I'm moanin' for more of the medicine
In the mornin' you're wonderin' where ya been
Just turnin' your back to the ghost
And tryin' to look like you just might know
That all of the good that you've seen
Just went down and into the drain
Oh kids am I straight out for now
In the mornin' I'm gonna find it on out
What in the world can it be
It's as strange as I've ever seen
The girls are dead in their eyes
Just standin' around like they're hypnotised
Who'll follow me back to the freak show
I'm crawlin' all over the carnival
And I am gone
The kid's in a straight out for now
In the mornin' I'm want to find it on out
What in the world can it be
It's as strange as I've ever seen
The girls are dead in their eyes
Just standin' around like they're hypnotised
Who'll follow me back to the freak show
I'm crawlin' all over the carnival
And I am gone
Song Info
Submitted by
azkm On May 15, 2007
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I don't have a clue what these lyrics mean, but i fucking love them.
It's clearly about dating a girl at a carnival while on smack, and there is more than that in the details, but rather hard to figure out. Seems a very personal song about a particular situation.
The motif of the song is "what in the world can it be" / "it's as strange as I've ever seen" / "I'm gonna find it all out" / "Where in the world have you been"
So probably he is wondering and meditating over the reasons of a break-up or her being upset/distant, something that is strange and consuming for him but she refuses to communicate. He also has a hunch that it all may be related to him using (turning your back to the ghost/you just might know that all of the good that you've seen went down into the drain)
And then what makes the song really strange and hard to understand are the repeating elements which make it impossible to place the events in a chronological order and give the whole song an eerie feeling in tone with the carnie atmosphere/time is a flat circle kind of thing, cause it starts with something that might as well be the end or the intrigue (where in the world have you been) and then the girls and the return the freakshow.
I would love to hear more inputs, anyway, amazing song with such a unique atmosphere, it really pulls you into that world.
So weird how people get different meanings out of songs. I don't think any songs from Whiskey for the Holy Ghost are "stories," for lack of a better word. I know Lanegan was heavily influenced by Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian when writing the songs on the album, and this is definitely one that was very influenced by it.
To me, he seems to be referring to the world of being a strung out singer in a rock band and how women will automatically "love" you just for being in one... and he's just following along because he's already feeling good being drunk and high, so why not? It's almost like he's saying not only does he not have to even TRY to get laid, but the girls are so effed up their judgment is non-existent. Maybe it's just me.