"The Carnival is Coming to Town"

I've heard the local gossip
I've seen it on the tube
I've heard they want to set up shop
They're looking for a rube
Rolling down the valley road
With their tigers and their clowns
Cloaked in magic's mystery
The carnival is comin' to town

There's a whisper in the moonlight
There's aroma in the air
We've heard about the slight of hand
That plays on love's despair
The tickets for the ferris wheel
That goes 'round and 'round and 'round
Are free to all who rode before
The carnival is comin' to town

We've seen them in the desert
We've seen them by the sea
They're popping up in parking lots
Giving rides for free
They know if they're hear long enough
We'll surely all come 'round
Flags and lights and marching bands
The carnival is comin' to town

They've been 'round here forever
Like spirits in the woods
Hiding in the shadows
Until the the time seems good
For a fee they'll change your world
They'll give you smiles for frowns
Magic rabbits pulled from hats
The carnival is comin' to town

So
Don't you turn your eyes away
The curtain's risng soon
With elephants and dancing bears
A trapeze 'cross the moon
The gypsy girl will read your mind
Will lift you off the ground
Dizzy, dazzling double talk
The carnival is comin'
The carnival is comin'
Yes
The carnival is a' comin' to town

There you are!
Don’t you know, you’re the star?
My dear, to stay hidden,
Is just straight forbidden!

The show shall begin,
Your blood, sunlight is in.
Crimson moon, you are mine,
Play the tune, be my crime.

Ring around the carousel,
Send a wish within the wishing well.
Stay with me, for eternity,
You may plea, but cannot leave.

This is fun, don’t you agree?
This is Carnival, doused in gasoline!
Your show is the one that matters,
This is the night the world shatters!

I will break me, to take you,
You are my alluring brew.
What if I told you I convinced time,
Just to be your immortal mime?

Don’t forget, my ****** dove,
That this Carnival is for the one I love.
Endless fun for a small price,
I shall die for you a million times.

Have all you can eat,
Then you may take a seat;
Get your utensils, paint some art,
Let magic course through your heart.

This is Carnival!
Oh babe, this is unbelievable!
You just stay in the hat,
This is where the joy is at.

Can’t you see it?
Maybe your mind is just not fit.
Beautiful light, nothing ever bleak,
Truthful sight, you find my innerfreak.

Without my jacket, hat and gold,
I believe it’s you that is all I hold.
Without my gizmos, wand and magic.
I believe you’ll witness my tragic.

Oh...but baby, it’s your Carnival!
Nevermind the acid rainfall.
It’s just my own catastrophe,
Just don’t ever......leave...

You don’t know it, but I’m your man,
It’s a quite simple slight of hand.
I’ve stolen your heart,
Formed our future, our soon to be art.

Breathe in the fumes of my hell,
No worries! In Carnival, all goes well!
Just breathe in my fumes,
Your dreams are no longer dooms.

It’s just a Carnival, just our Carnival.
Clown town, and the mirror hall.
In this Carnival, it’s our last dance,
Oh dear, never break this trance.

Once there was a carnival.

It was exuberant and joyful,
With elephants and lions befriending the penguins and sea otters,
And little fairy-like acrobats leaping and zooming across tightropes,
As if they were walking on solid ground.

There was a faint smell of funnel cake and cotton candy and popcorn,
And the sound of people chatting animatedly about,
"Wasn't that act precious" or "oh, darling, look at that penguin! Isn't he cute?"

And then I got a little older.

And the carnival was still joyful, but something had changed.
The carnival had this joyful facade but it was hiding a darker exterior.
The elephants and lions were growing old, and the ringmaster,
Displeased with their best efforts,
Had started to hurt them.
The fairy-like acrobats had gotten injured over the years,
And wobbled a little bit here and there, with hints of hesitation
Perspiring on their foreheads.
The funnel cake and cotton candy and popcorn smell lingered still,
But it was almost as if people had grown tired of the taste,
And in the heat of the summer day,
The food had started to grow stale.

And then I got old.

The carnival had closed now.
Overgrown with weeds,
Stalls and tents covered in graffiti and muck,
It was now a gathering spot for children to make believe,
That they were the fairy acrobats who had once been so agile and captivating,
Or the animals that had struck terror and awe into toddler's hearts.

The carnival was gone,
but the children would run home to their grandmas and grandpas,
and they would tell them the story of how the lion was this close to biting off their nose,
and how one time the acrobat honestly did a front flip from a horse on to a bear onto a lion, and they were honest to God telling the absolute truth no matter what their spouse would say in the room next door.

The carnival was gone, but the stories would go on in a bittersweet never ending circle of intrigue and mystery and magic.