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Carnival Lyrics
I quit the carnival and moved next door
Thought I'd had enough but I wanted more
So now I'm sneaking out at night
I clean my face and shine my shoes
And go where I'm not supposed to
See I tamed a lion once I stole his roar
Stripped his pride away but he found more
So now he's out to take what's his and shove
My future in my face and scare me back in my place
So soon so soon you've got it beat 'til it eats you
See I left my flaming sword beside your bed
I woke to find it pressed against my neck
You wept suggestion never works
So now I'm trying something else
I shut my eyes hold on.. oh well
And I felt a feather fall a tree trunk split
Inside my lying mouth played violin
He said you should give up your voice
Before we both end up destroyed
I quit alrigh the purred good boy
You'll believe in anything when you're caught
You'll fall for anyone and
I said that's not exactly true
Only you, I do what you do
You awake in the hospital in a thrift store suit
You hear your lover's voice from the waiting room
You shut your eyes and pray for peace
Think I'm not here this isn't me
This isn't something I would do
I know the complicated truth
I make a mask of lions roar
A big top tent a firey sword
But they're not real and never were
And soon she won't be real either
This is the life you went and earned
Because you never fucking learn
You could use up all of your years
Fixing the mess you make in here
So as her nervous dress draws closer
Dress heels click off their approach
You clutch your chest and whisper
"oh no, what will I do? what will I do?
My love, my love, what will I do?"
I agree, I think it's about drugs, he's girlfriend is trying to get him to quit and maybe he has been clean for a while but he slips and goes back to the "carnival", I think the lion again represents drugs, saying he tamed it once but now he's loosing control of it, the flaming sword is a needle perhaps and he's lover catches him using it, soon he finds himself in a hospital bed perhaps with regret for what he did and tryings to think of how he's going to explain what he did.
@Cyberghost That was very well thought out. before I read this I had no idea what the song meant. This obviously isn't the DEFINITE meaning but it could be where he was going with it!
@Cyberghost That was very well thought out. before I read this I had no idea what the song meant. This obviously isn't the DEFINITE meaning but it could be where he was going with it!
"Carnival is a nightmare song. It's a song about buckling under the weight of your bad choices, bad behavior, about loss of control and lost love. It's a conscience song about strain and about waking up from a kind of fever dream... to an even more frightening and absurd but actual set of circumstances." -KD
My favorite new demo. No idea yet what it means to me, but the sound of this song is amazing. It's so dark and creepy...I imagine a really cool video of a dark creepy carnival with all this crazy shit. I mean, if Kevin made videos.
this song reminds of a bad breakup with a stuck up chick. stop the show she's quitting. but she's picked up a bunch of new tools which leave us in a stupid wonder. change after change a stupid wonder.
this song reminds of a bad breakup with a stuck up chick. stop the show she's quitting. but she's picked up a bunch of new tools which leave us in a stupid wonder. change after change a stupid wonder.
he has a video for brooklyn boy, so who knows.
he has a video for brooklyn boy, so who knows.
at least in the version i have, the 2008 demo, it says "i paint my face, i shine my shoes" "i shut my eyes, ho hum, oh well" "inside my lion laugh played violin" "only you, i do what you do"
yeah, really only minor differences. absolutely amazing song though.
i totally agree. i can't stop listening to it. haunting.
has everyone else heard the latest version of this song?
BEST EVER.
You mean the live version?
"...the hypnotic and ominous "Carnival" sets the tone its with spacious, swirling flares of psychedelia, its dynamic exploration of tension and release playing against a nightmarish hallucination about lost willpower and the fear of finally waking up to a real life that's even crazier than your dreams"
Off the Favorite Gentlemen website
which version is this? The album version is a bit different.
on the album version, does anyone else hear the death cab - y sound to it? not so much the lyrics, but everything else..
YES. So I'm not the only one who thinks that.
YES. So I'm not the only one who thinks that.