Carousels Lyrics
On a bus ride into town (Jesus remember me)
I wondered out loud (When you come to your kingdom)
"Why am I going to town?" As I looked around
(Jesus remember me)
At the billboards and the stores (When you come)
And I thought, "Why do I look around? (Jesus remember me)
And I kissed the filthy ground (When you come to your kingdom)
The first dry spot I found (Jesus remember me)
I didn't have to wonder (When you come)
Why I was laying down
Before long I was too cold, took a bus back to the station
I found a letter left by a pay phone with no return contact
And it read like a horn blown by some sad angel
"Bunny, it was me, it was me who let you down"
It was the shyest attempt I'd ever seen at conversation
[Chorus]
But if I didn't have you as my guide I'd still wander lost in Sinai
And counting the plates of cars from out-of-state
How I could jump in their path as they hurry along
And you surround me, you're pretty, but you're are all I can see
Like a thick fog if there was no way into God
I would never have laid in this grave of a body for so long
And St. Cyril's fair always came through
The first week of September
But it's already the 19th
And there's no sign of it, yet I have a hard time
Remembering all the things I should remember
And a hard time forgetting all the things
That I was supposed to forget
And, Christ, when you're ready to come back
And I think I'm ready for you to come back
But if you want to stay wherever exactly it is you are
That's okay too, it's, it's really none of my business
[Chorus]
And if I didn't have you as my guide, I'd still wander lost in Sinai
Or down by the tracks watching trains go by
To remind me there are places that aren't here
And I had a well but all the water left
So I'll go ask your forgiveness with every breath
If there was no way into God
I would never have laid in this grave of a body
So long, dear
About
“Carousels” is a song about the foolishness of the world and the true need for God. Aaron wrote this song after riding into town one day. He was struck by the billboards and consumerism found in the American culture. This realization leads him to lay prostrate before God. As the Israelites once wandered in the desserts of Sinai, so Weiss admits that he would wander without God. He also expresses the meaninglessness and evil of existence apart from God’s existence. He quotes Jack Kerouac’s book The Dharma Bums when he sings: “Like a horn blown by some sad angel.” There is also a plea for Jesus to come back, referring to his expected return. In the background of the first verse, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” is heard – the words of the criminal crucified beside Jesus who repented. In the second verse “we bow in unity when we come into your kingdom” is heard instead.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 2.January 1979
- 4.Leaf
- 7.The Soviet
- 8.Paper-Hanger
- 11.Carousels
- 12.Son of a Widow
