Natalie Merchant - Carnival

"Carnival" is a song written and produced by singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant and was the lead single from her debut solo album, Tigerlily. In the lyrics, the protagonist describes a street scene as a carnival.

Lyrics:
[Verse 1]
Well I've walked these streets
A virtual stage
It seemed to me
Makeup on their faces
Actors took their places next to me

[Pre-Chorus 1]
Well I've walked these streets
In a carnival
Of sights to see
All the cheap thrill-seekers
The vendors and the dealers
They crowded around me

[Chorus]
Have I been blind?
Have I been lost?
Inside myself and my own mind?
Hypnotized, mesmerized
By what my eyes have seen

[Verse 2]
Well I've walked these streets
In a spectacle of wealth and poverty
In the diamond market
The scarlet welcome carpet
That they just rolled out for me

[Pre-Chorus 2]
And I've walked these streets
In the madhouse asylum
They can be
Where a wild-eyed misfit prophet
On a traffic island stopped
And he raved of saving me

[Chorus]
Have I been blind?
Have I been lost?
Inside myself and my own mind?
Hypnotized, mesmerized
By what my eyes have seen

Have I been wrong?
Have I been wise?
To shut my eyes and play along?
Hypnotized, paralyzed
By what my eyes have found

[Bridge]
By what my eyes have seen
What they have seen

[Guitar Solo]
[Chorus]
Have I been blind? (blind)
Have I been lost? (lost)
Have I been wrong? (Have I been wrong?)
Have I been wise? (Have I been wise?)
Have I been strong?
Have I been hypnotized, mesmerized
By what my eyes have found?
(By what my eyes have found?)
In that great street carnival
(Whoa, in that carnival)
Have I been blind? (blind)
Have I been lost? (lost)
(Have I been)
Have I been wrong? (Have I been wrong?)
Have I been wise? (Have I been wise?)
Have I been strong?
Have I been hypnotized, mesmerized
By what my eyes have found?
(By what my eyes have found?)
In that great street carnival
In that carnival