Lyrics for Carouselambra as interpreted by kevin

Carouselambra Lyrics
Sisters of the way-side bide their time in quiet peace,
Await their place within the ring of calm;
Still stand to turn in seconds of release,
Await the call they know may never come.
In times of lightness, no intruder dared upon
To jeopardize the course, upset the run;
And all was joy and hands were raised toward the sun
As love in the halls of plenty overrun.

Still in their bliss unchallenged mighty feast,
Unending dances shadowed on the day.
Within their walls, their daunting formless keep,
Preserved their joy and kept their doubts at bay.
Faceless legions stood in readiness to weep,
Just turn a coin, bring order to the fray;
And everything is soon no sooner thought than deed,
But no one seemed to question in anyway.

How keen the storied hunter's eye prevails upon the land
To seek the unsuspecting and the weak;
And powerless the fabled sat, too smug to lift a hand
Toward the foe that threatened from the deep.
Who cares to dry the cheeks of those who saddened stand
Adrift upon a sea of futile speech?
And to fall to fate and make the 'status plan'
Where was your word, where did you go?
Where was your helping, where was your bow? Bow.
Dull is the armour, cold is the day.
Hard was the journey, dark was the way. Way.
I heard the word; I couldn't stay. Oh.
I couldn't stand it another day, another day,
Another day, another day.

Touched by the timely coming,
Roused from the keeper's sleep,
Release the grip, throw down the key.

Held now within the knowing,
Rest now within the peace.
Take of the fruit, but guard the seed.

They had to stay!

Held now within the knowing,
Rest now within the beat.
Take of the fruit, but guard the seed...

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napnip
04-13-2002

Rated 0 
It's hard as hell to understand the lyrics in this song, but dammit it's a great song, nonetheless.


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mikeydhh
06-10-2003

Rated 0 
After years of trying to figure this out, I've finally decided that it must have something to do with either a bandmate or Richard Cole's excesses with groupies and the like during the 1977 tour. "Sisters of the wayside" in line 1, i.e. the groupies waiting in hotel lobbies, halls, etc; some being picked and exploited in rock and roll fashion, at the whim of this person to whom Plant addresses. Further allusions to the "hunter's eye", faceless legions, etc, are again signs of perusing the girls at hotels. I further believe this has to do with the 1977 tour, as with the line "I heard the word; I couldn't stay...I couldn't stand it another day." The '77 tour was abruptly ended when Robert Plant received the phone call from his wife, notifying him of his son Karac's sudden death.

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Fool_in_the_rain
07-02-2003

Rated 0 
Led Zeppelin always seemed to have a political statement to make here and there......They were a true part of the HIppie rebellion in the Late 60's and 70's......This seems apparent in such songs like Misty Mountain Hop.......Anyhow....I kinda get a feeling of how the masses were really disappointed wit hthe way things were being handled by the government and such......

"How keen the storied hunter's eye prevails upon the land To seek the unsuspecting and the weak; And powerless the fabled sat, too smug to lift a hand Toward the foe that threatened from the deep. Who cares to dry the cheeks of those who saddened stand Adrift upon a sea of futile speech?

Kinda sounds like the futile governmental processes that seem to prevail since Vietnam.....Lots of futile promises and unkept promises......Who knows?....I don't think it's the whole meaning behind the song because Vietnam was pretty much over in 77'...but we never officially left either.....go figure......I can see some of the references to groupies and the tour too....Don't know if there is supposed to be any correlation or not.......Maybe it's just kind of a look at how glamourous and wonderful life seemed for them not too long before...Now look at the state of things......

I also think that the last line is a warning for future generations........It kinda falls in line with the above idea of what has the world come too.....Maybe feeling that it was too late to make any changes in their generation...It's up to ours to make those changes.........Take of the fruit, but guard the seed.....We all need to stop taking advantage of our now seemingly abundant resources.....Or soon we will consume ourselves out of house and home......Guard that seed.......Replant what you destroy.....Leave something for the others who follow so they can taste the same sweetness you enjoy today......Just some thoughts ;)

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Ben2k9
05-06-2004

Rated 0 
their last great epic, a truely awsome song.

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rogerd
12-05-2004

Rated 0 
This is in fact a Viking funeral dirge. It's lyrical start is in beautiful alternating iambic septameter. The song tells the story of a warrior who dwells in (the ever popular) Valhalla at a time when he was needed by his people.

Musically, the first part of Coarouselambra tells the story of these people that are too busy with their own lore and its telling to heed any sort of danger.

The guitar-rich downtempo second part begins with their lament ("Where was your word, where did you go?"). He answers back with "I heard the word..." and has decided to return...

The third uptempo synth-heavy part makes oblique reference to his resurrection.

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JosephWolf
01-30-2005

Rated 0 
Jones is a good song writer.

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Major Valor
04-12-2005

Rated 0 
This is the best song Led Zepplin's ever done. The musical composition, the lyrics, ...the whole is truly greater than the sum of it's parts.
I bought this album in 1982. I listend to Carouselambra every day without fail, at least three times, well into 1984. More on Saturdays.

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JoNeSyFaN18
06-22-2005

Rated 0 
Yes, I know, Jones is a brilliant songriter. You can definitely tell the difference between what he and Plant wrote and what Plant and Page wrote. Jonesy should have written way more songs :(
Anyways, this song is very confusing. The lyrics which are barely audible beneath the synthesizer and guitar, and the lyrics itself. It's still a great song though. Probably the best.
My favorite line is "Take of the fruit, But guard the seed" It sounds like Jones and Plant are giving our generation some advice??
It's funny how you all have different opinions on what this song is about. Too bad we can't get the remaining Zeppelin to help us......

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Histamine
01-24-2006

Rated 0 
The Bass Line in this is incredible it took me a week to learn

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jbpig
03-13-2006

Rated 0 
One of my faves. It shows the depth of the band and their evolution; it's too bad it was cut short.

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heyjude55
05-01-2006

Rated 0 
very 80s like

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mikeydhh
07-07-2006

Rated 0 
Well, bear in mind that it's technically "based" within the context of a Viking funeral dirge, but Plant's constant longing for self-comparisons to legendary characters drove his writing toward posing aspects of touring to that of the Viking tale mentioned above.

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skiman1
07-08-2006

Rated 0 
Its obviously about there life as untouchable rock stars.

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Major Valor
07-27-2006

Rated 0 
Weighning in on this song again, I have to echo the sentiments that John Paul Jones was a very underrecognized element in the greatness that was Led Zep.
Everything good about the band can be found in this song.

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nirvanafan700
08-24-2006

Rated 0 
This song, according to Robert Plant, is the story of Zeppelin's latter days

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mikeydhh
09-08-2006

Rated 0 
Yes, it's definitely a funeral dirge, but intentionally posed as such. It's an elegy to the passing of less excessive days when music took precedence, rather than the excesses of touring life. As mentioned earlier, the relative happiness of a less complicated lifestyle had been smothered by touring excess, and the descriptions of groupies and general '77 touring life impressed that fact upon us. The lifestyle from the '77 tour was, in a sense, the funeral, thus burying less complicated days past and the tours that bracketed them.

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mikeydhh
11-22-2006

Rated +1 
I don't do this often (or ever) but I did some vocal isolation work and really think I've finally figured out the lyrics - once and for all. Here goes:

By the way I finally isolated the vocal track to the point that these are the definitive lyrics:

Sisters by the wayside bide their time in quiet peace, await their place within the ring of calm
Still stand adjurned in seconds of release,
Await the call they know may never come.
In times of light, this knight truly no more
To unite the forces into one
And all was joy as hands would raise to the sun
As loving hordes aplenty overrun

To live in bliss and cherish my defeat - an ending that's a shadow of the day
Within the hall their daunting form must keep a certain type of gift that found their way
A place is laid and soon embedded next to me - just turning, wandering all into the fray
And everything is soon no sooner thought than deed, that no one seemed to question anyway

I hear the story about the giant hands upon the land, that sweep the unsuspecting and the weak
And powerless the fabled sat, too smug to lift a hand
Toward the foe that threatened from beneath
Who cares to dry the cheeks of those who sat or stand
Adrift upon a sea of futile speech?
And befall the fate that make him state his plan
No more nearer where they would ever reach.

Where was your word - where did you go?
Where was your helping - why did you go?
Dull is the armor, cold is the day
Hard was the journey, dark was the way
I heard the word I couldn't stay
I couldn't stand it another day
Another day
Touched by the timely coming,
Roused from the keeper's sleep,
Release the grip, throw down the key.

Held now within the knowing,
Rest now within the peace.
Take of the fruit, but guard the seed.

They had to stay!

Held now within the knowing,
Rest now within the beat.
Take of the fruit, but guard the seed...

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crazydiamond1to9
12-27-2006

Rated 0 
I'm just gonna take your word for it, mike. The only one I'm gonna disagree with you is on "why did you go?" vs. "where was your bow?" I definitely heard a distinctive B-sound in there that doesn't seem possible to be a G.

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supercatmanrulez
02-22-2007

Rated 0 
i want to know how someone actually figured out what the lyrics were to this song they are seriously impossible to comprehend unless u are reading the lyrics while listening to it

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mikeydhh
05-01-2007

Rated 0 
To Crazydiamond:
Yeah, you're right, I actually messed up on that. The bow line you mention is what I wanted to say, but I submitted an unedited version - so yes.

To SuperCat:
Sonically speaking - you isolate vocals by cross-phasing the stereo instrumentation. Trying to explain, but vocals are normally centered and instruments aren't. There is a way to phase-cancel the stereo instruments (like drums, etc) and leave center-channel vocals untouched.

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2 Replies
Persuasion
05-27-2007

Rated -2 
a bit too 80s pop-ish for me

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1 Reply
ledzoso
06-30-2008

Rated 0 
this song is hard to understand even with the lyrics

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Longhorn1463
04-12-2009

Rated 0 
its a song with multiple possible meanings but hypothetical real meaning is so intentionally personal no one will completely figure it out. they want u to look for it and debate out it so u like them more, its an ingenius marketing ploy

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billy talent is god
08-17-2009

Rated 0 
jpj wasn't the only one that wrote this, actually. i think page and plant did some of it too, if i'm not mistaken. this song is hard to follow lyrically and i'm not sure about the meaning, haha. i really like this song though.

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bigmike7
09-26-2009

Rated 0 
This is pretty cool discovering their lyrics. I am chuckling at all the Zep lyrics I misheard as a teen. "In the Evening" had to be the top as far as lyrics I totally botched.

I agree with "Fool". There are definitely political overtones in this one, but maybe more than Vietnam. Seems to me to be about the overall hippie vision for transforming society dying. And there's some blame placed toward someone, probably people who had become too fat and comfortable to put their necks on the line ("too smug to lift a hand").

Sorry, I don't see anything about groupies or hotels. Plant used some pretty salty innuendo for songs about sex and I just don't see it at all.

There is a hopeful message to the lyrics-- Plant is singing about waking from some sleep and he's also suggesting there is a seed being protected, as if the vision might some day be revived.

I could see this also being allegorical about their own rise and fall, indirectly. The 60's movements languished, Zep was cast aside for punk, disco, new wave, etc. You could see how they might have seen themselves as victim to larger forces.

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