Lyrics to
Life Is A Carnival

This version of Life Is A Carnival was released by The Band in 1971.

Our Decade Lyrics The Band profile has all of the Life Is A Carnival lyrics from 1971 and many more songs from the The Band discography that we have on file.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to The Band or about the 1970s in general.

You can walk on the water, drown in the sand
You can fly off a mountaintop if anybody can
Run away, run away–it’s the restless age
Look away, look away–you can turn the page

Hey, buddy, would you like to buy a watch real cheap
Here on the street
I got six on each arm and two more round my feet
Life is a carnival–believe it or not
Life is a carnival–two bits a shot

Saw a man with the jinx in the third degree
From trying to deal with people–people you can’t see
Take away, take away, this house of mirrors
Give away, give away, all the souvenirs
We’re all in the same boat ready to float off the edge of the world
The flat old world
The street is a sideshow from the peddler to the corner girl
Life is a carnival–it’s in the book
Life is a carnival–take another look

Hey, buddy, would you like to buy a watch real cheap
Here on the street
I got six on each arm and two more round my feet
Life is a carnival–believe it or not
Life is a carnival–two bits a shot

---

Want more lyrics and songs by The Band?

The Band has released many songs over the years besides Life Is A Carnival. The Band released songs from 1968 to 2002 spanning across albums like Music From Big Pink, The Band, Stage Fright, Cahoots, Moondog Matinee, Northern Lights - Southern Cross, Islands, Jericho, High On The Hog, Jubilation, and The Last Waltz. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by The Band.

If you're a fan of 1970s music looking for more songs from 1971 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Life Is A Carnival by The Band

The lyrics for Life Is A Carnival are defined as the words making up the song released by The Band in 1971. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Life Is A Carnival have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only The Band and those working with them know all of the meanings behind all of the lyrics to their songs.

Some folks are interested in word and phrase etymology. It is easy to understand the lyrics to Life Is A Carnival by The Band if you think through it. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Life Is A Carnival" means the words set to the music of Life Is A Carnival, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by The Band. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Life Is A Carnival and the lyrics to Life Is A Carnival are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of The Band who came here looking just for the lyrics to Life Is A Carnival, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

More Songs & Lyrics by The Band

Visit our The Band profile for more The Band songs, lyrics & info!

)