Natalie Merchant - Carnival

Well I've walked these streets A virtual stage it seemed to me Makeup 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 The 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

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

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 Have I been lost have I been wrong 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 Have I been lost have I been wrong 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 It's crazy, yeah, yeah he was with us last night

Have I been hypnotized mesmerized By what my eyes have found By what my eyes have found

In that great street carnival