Well, 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 my own mind?
Hypnotized, mesmerized
By what my eyes have seen

I’ve walked these streets
In a spectacle of wealth and poverty
In the diamond markets, the scarlet welcome carpet
That they just rolled out for me

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

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

By what my eyes have seen
What they have seen…

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 (carnival)

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 (carnival)
In that carnival…



Song name Carnival
Artist Natalie Merchant
Album Tigerlily
Track number 5
Year 1995
Language American English
Original text by Magnus Sveningsson / Nina Persson / Peter Anders Svensson
Original text copyright Downtown Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group