They say to write the truth that you know
Give it a go
Let your heart show
They say that truth is all that you need
Let your heart bleed
Redemption you’ll feed
But what if the truth ain’t meant to be found
What if it masquerades like a clown
Turning your gaze from a smile to a frown
Cuz you know that your life has been lived upside down
This dream that will meet every wish and demand
Is a fucking imposter, the worst one-night stand
It offers you life then it rips it away
And laughs in your face for the promises made
Cuz that clown with its promise was a lie to begin with
But you married that clown, gave birth to his children
And you want to get out, you’d give your life for it
He’ll take what you give, and all the rest with it
Your life is a carnival, cirque du Soleil
Like a flying trapeze artist, flipping away
But the net that would catch you is ripped on one side
And your catcher forgot to show up where you fly
And your house of mirrors looks more like Versailles
But without all the gold that makes simple folk cry
Are you rich, are you poor, does your bank account lie
Is the bandwidth of opulence tighter than high
Built brick by brick
It’s a visual trick
Full of legos and play-doh and Faygo and shit
And the dreamers who built it
Got caught on the run
Of late nights and bedtimes
And bunkbeds and playtimes
And showbiz and curtain rises
Egos of inflated sizes
They were all young once, yeah but not now
The sand in the hourglass stole back their bow
They’re mad at you now
They all fault you for it
Cuz new blood ain’t true blood
Lest you paid a fee for it
And now gravity’s caught you all by surprise
It pulled you back down
To insanity’s ground
It’s a giant, woke giant, awake from the curse
That left him there sleeping ’til gravity worked
And he has you, he holds you, his hand round your neck
You’ll escape when you let go and your catcher comes back
And the net gets repaired
And that red curtain falls
And the clown sans the makeup is man after all
Did you think your insanity
Outdid reality
Outside this high top
That travels and folds up
Reality here is real and its fake
And it fosters rebellion
‘Til consciousness takes
Your life and your love and your midnight dreams too
Give up on it, player, that clown ain’t your boo
Those dreamers aren’t either
They’re tough and they’re strong
Cuz they ain’t little dreamers
They’re the ones that you’ve wronged
They’ve built their own castles
And armies and towns
And they’re coming back at you
They’re taking you down
They’re all here to play you
Puffed up cuz they game you
A pawn on that chessboard
A rookie to save you
Is right there behind
All the smoke and the lies
Cuz their game ain’t your kind
And you outdid their style
And it’s sad cuz they ain’t
Any more real than your clown
Or that tall house of mirrors
That took them all down
And just once you wish
To wake up just the same
As the person you once was
When all this was changed
The fame that you wanted
Attention you flaunted
Applause that you lived for
Approval you fought for
You’d give it up now
For your life to go back
To return where you came from
Trade your king for a jack
And the riches for rags
And that jag for the stacks
Gourmet for Kraft
And that fur for a hat
And the ones you flaunt now
For the ones that you love
In the cul-de-sac house
Beaten, bent and run down
Cuz the fame and the brains
And the greens you got for it
Will shut your life down
Timber’d down like a forest
That’s needed to build
All the homes and the towns
Of the next batch of fliers
And dreamers and clowns
And you know that they’ll meet you
Down there down that road
With the high top and catchers
Magicians and rogues
They’ll think that they’ve beat you
And all hang their hats
On that carnival high top
Before it goes flat
And you’ll be there but once
Just to wish them farewell
Send that storm out to sea
And get lost in its swell
And that rip tide will tear at you
Strong winds they’ll carry you
Over the seas
And on top of the breeze
And you’ll watch that whole circus
Pack up and strip down
And travel on down
To the next beat up town
And they’ll cheer and they’ll scream
And they’ll boo and they’ll scheme
’til one day they wake up
From their dreams
(c) 2018, “The Carnival,” Tiffany Aurora