The song took an unusual road for me.
The surface includes a bittersweet parting, but this is only what happens.
What it means is the beauty of interpretation, unique to each listener.
The song made me think of the transition in life and relationships from heat to light, possibly back again, if only in memory. The root of "carnival" lent fuel to this concept and I grew it in my mind as a reminiscence from old age back to the fires of lust that burned loud and insistent in the speaker's younger days. Lovingly, he recounts how the core of love persisted:
"Though the carnival is over, I will love you `til I die"
The cloak of night, in my interpretation, fit well with the thought of someone in Autumn years, even.
Of course, there is a parting mentioned: This tangles my whole "end of flesh and youthful things", but the meaning still appeals to me.
Could the parting be a death? of the speaker, or a beloved life-mate?
Perhaps there is a literal fling between a traveling performer and a resident (a literal carnival suits me just fine, with a parting required once "the carnival is over")
Here, I could tie in my light/heat concept as the one left behind likens him/herself to Pierrot, losing the only object of their affection to something else ( the literal carnival itself, or finding passion/heat with another, forsaking their dedicated, unrequited love/light. )
A great song, I'd be interested to hear the original.
-Phase
The song took an unusual road for me. The surface includes a bittersweet parting, but this is only what happens. What it means is the beauty of interpretation, unique to each listener.
The song made me think of the transition in life and relationships from heat to light, possibly back again, if only in memory. The root of "carnival" lent fuel to this concept and I grew it in my mind as a reminiscence from old age back to the fires of lust that burned loud and insistent in the speaker's younger days. Lovingly, he recounts how the core of love persisted: "Though the carnival is over, I will love you `til I die"
The cloak of night, in my interpretation, fit well with the thought of someone in Autumn years, even.
Of course, there is a parting mentioned: This tangles my whole "end of flesh and youthful things", but the meaning still appeals to me.
Could the parting be a death? of the speaker, or a beloved life-mate? Perhaps there is a literal fling between a traveling performer and a resident (a literal carnival suits me just fine, with a parting required once "the carnival is over")
Here, I could tie in my light/heat concept as the one left behind likens him/herself to Pierrot, losing the only object of their affection to something else ( the literal carnival itself, or finding passion/heat with another, forsaking their dedicated, unrequited love/light. )
A great song, I'd be interested to hear the original. -Phase