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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 alrighthe purred good boy
you'll fall for anything when you're caught
you'll believe anyone and
i said that's not exactly true
only you, you 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
a big top tent a firey sword
i make a mask of lions roar
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?"
Lyrics submitted by godphauther
Track duration: 06:34
"Carnival" as written by Kevin Toney
Lyrics © K-TONE MUSIC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song, much like many of Kevin's other songs, is about his struggle with cocaine.
And that's straight from the horses mouth.
If you've done coke or struggled with drug adiction I'm sure you could quite easily make sense of Kevin's metaphors.
Anyway his cleaned up his act now. Good on him!... but let's hope the good lyrics keep comin' haha.
the second verse is amazing and i think most of you are missing how crazy it is because he screws up, leaves the needle by the bed, and his gf finds out he is using again. then she causes him to overdose.
"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"
the "complicated truth" later on again refers to his lover being the one who made him o.d.
"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.
Another take I see slightly differently is the flaming sword. I imagine the flaming sword as paraphernalia, like a crack pipe or something. Its flaming because its been used recently, not literally flaming but as if he used it and passed out and the next morning its by him for this girl to find and he is basically caught red handed.
I'm going to say that the carnival is probably a lifestyle, partying, drugs, women, whatever. He finds someone that wants him to stop all of this (suggestion never works) and he is going to try for her.
The problems is that as soon as he tries to quits, the old life style keeps calling out to him (classic forbidden fruit example), or he feels like it is following him (and for the record I'm 99% sure he says "I quit the carnival, IT moved next door (meaning he just couldn't get away from it)). So, instead of dealing with his lust for the old life style, he embraces it and cheats on the promise he made with the girl to stay away.
The lion taming may just be an image of him being the center of attention, he tamed it and took it's power (like at a circus, the idea is that the lion tamer is more powerful than the lion... so when everyone should be thinking "wow! It's a lion!" they're thinking "wow! look at that guy taming that lion!". So, if the lion "Scares him back in his place" maybe he realized that he ISN'T the center of attention any more (age maybe has a play in this)... but either way, I would say this is when he decides not to pursue it anymore.
There's a lot of imagery in this writing that I think is more about the situation than a specific representation to an object. The lion, the sword, I think these are just general ideas of things that he had that he wants again, instead of ACTUAL examples (IE Flaming sword means _____) I think this because they just don't matter. The story progresses without knowing what he was thinking. That being said, I think the flaming sword is just a SOMETHING (anything) that gets him caught. It doesn't matter what it is, what matters is he is in trouble for it.
As the "sword" (again, just an image) is pressed against his neck, the girl says "suggestion never works, so now I'm trying something else". The guy embraces it, he did what he felt he had to do and he knows there is no way out of the situation.
The rest of the song seems fuzzy to me. Possibly he has a moment of epiphany where he decides that changing is the better way to go... or, more likely, he does it all again (shown by talking to the lion again) and over-does it, putting himself in the hospital.
The last part is pretty amazing, he wakes in the hospital, the suit probably shows how desperate he was to get back into the "scene", and then he gets scared for whatever is going to happen (the woman leaving, perhaps?) and he realizes how fake he was for living the life he was living (IE: they're not real, and never were). He is also scared at this time that the girl is going to leave him (and soon she won't be real either) and that he will be left all alone. As the girl comes into the room, the lead character has no idea what to do to keep the girl in his life... and, sadly, this is how the song ends.
just my idea, I feel more certain on the first half than the second... anyone else have an ideas?
i definitely think you're right about him 'overdoing it' and landing himself in the hospital. however, i think the 'soon she won't be real either' part, all that, sounds like he thinks he's going to die and none of this will matter.