For those who are confused, there is a spoken intro on some versions :
"This is a song called "The Circus of Death". It tells the true story of a circus we met. The first two verses concern the actual arrival at Heathrow Airport of Commissioner Steve McGarrett. The third emotionally describes a map showing the range of the circus. The fourth and fifth were extracted from an article in The Guardian of March the 19th, 1962. The last is a short wave radio message from the last man on Earth."
Despite some considering, the spoken intro does actually talk about the various verses of the song. The first verse does indeed detail the arriving of the band with McGarret, while the second verse talks about a mental map of the circus itself.
The fourth and fifth article were most likely taken from an article in 'The Guardian' dated Marth 19th, 1962. While I can't really access the article because of Issues, there does indeed exist an article from the papers on that day: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/259705680/. I doubt if it includes the actual verses, but said paper could give some hints if anyone is able to access it.
The last Man on Earth, as the final part of the intro suggests, was originally a 30 minute instrumental (Which was probably based off of "After Cease to Exist", a similar 20 minute instrumental by Throbbing Gristle) that was later included on the Band's "Golden Hour of the Future" Album released decades later after the original line-up split up. So, this particular segment might be referencing that particular instrumental. The actual verses on this part are probably indicated of someone being a 'last man', but this is vague in itself as said verse mentions a family.
All in all, it's very hard to figure out what they were trying to state with this piece. My best guess is that one of the band members (Phil?) was interested in Hawaii Five-O and wanted to write a fanfiction about him and the band uncovering a Death Circus. Other than that, the only thing uncovered is the guardian article.
For those who are confused, there is a spoken intro on some versions :
"This is a song called "The Circus of Death". It tells the true story of a circus we met. The first two verses concern the actual arrival at Heathrow Airport of Commissioner Steve McGarrett. The third emotionally describes a map showing the range of the circus. The fourth and fifth were extracted from an article in The Guardian of March the 19th, 1962. The last is a short wave radio message from the last man on Earth."
Despite some considering, the spoken intro does actually talk about the various verses of the song. The first verse does indeed detail the arriving of the band with McGarret, while the second verse talks about a mental map of the circus itself.
The fourth and fifth article were most likely taken from an article in 'The Guardian' dated Marth 19th, 1962. While I can't really access the article because of Issues, there does indeed exist an article from the papers on that day: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/259705680/. I doubt if it includes the actual verses, but said paper could give some hints if anyone is able to access it.
The last Man on Earth, as the final part of the intro suggests, was originally a 30 minute instrumental (Which was probably based off of "After Cease to Exist", a similar 20 minute instrumental by Throbbing Gristle) that was later included on the Band's "Golden Hour of the Future" Album released decades later after the original line-up split up. So, this particular segment might be referencing that particular instrumental. The actual verses on this part are probably indicated of someone being a 'last man', but this is vague in itself as said verse mentions a family.
All in all, it's very hard to figure out what they were trying to state with this piece. My best guess is that one of the band members (Phil?) was interested in Hawaii Five-O and wanted to write a fanfiction about him and the band uncovering a Death Circus. Other than that, the only thing uncovered is the guardian article.