/carnival/
natalie merchant/tigerlily

I've walked these streets
a virtual stage it seemed to me
makeup on their faces
actors took their places next to me

I've walked these streets
in a Carnival of sights to see
all the cheap thrill seekers
vendors and the dealers
they crowded around me

have I been blind
have I been lost
inside myself and in my own mind
hypnotized, mesmerized
by what my eyes have seen?

I've walked these street
in a spectacle of wealth & poverty
in the diamond markets
the scarlet welcome carpet
that they just rolled out for me

I've walked these streets
in the mad house asylum they can be
where a wild eyed misfit prophet
on a traffic island stopped
and he raved on saving me

Repeat Chorus

have I been wrong
have I been wise
to shut my eyes and play along
hypnotized, paralyzed
by what my eyes have found
by what my eyes have seen
what they have seen

Have I been blind
have I been lost
have I been wrong
Have I been wise
have I been strong
have I been hypnotized,
mesmerized by what my eyes have found
in that great street carnival
in that carnival?

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(c)pillbox, 1996