Natalie Merchant Lyrics
"Carnival"

Well, I've walked these streets
A virtual stage, it seemed to me
Make-up on their faces
Actors took their places next to me

Well, 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? (Blind)
Have I been lost (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 market, 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 mystic prophet
On a traffic island stopped, and he raved of saving me

Have I been blind? (Blind)
Have I been lost (lost) inside myself and my own mind?
Hypnotized, mesmerized
By what my eyes have seen

Have I been wrong? (Wrong)
Have I been wise (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

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
In that carnival