Lyrics Mark Berube - Carnival

Wrote a small time song for my neighbourhood choir
for my kid at home, my band for hire
found a cancer hook in a bank of songs
among the da-da

found some chicken wire, a plastic bag
a clothesline full of golden rags
found some graffiti on my China plates
got a happy hammer for the refined tastes

and now the school yard's clean, the basement's full
of all the dandelions the kids could pull
found some entitlement, some hipster swag
a conversation for my vanity page

and now the typewriter's dead but not the church bell song
I see our future lit in the lights of Hong Kong
I got my Christmas faith, the angels shine
from the lips of the freeway to the shadows of...

the carnival lights on the cheeks of your face, promises on the blades of your teeth
carnival lights on the cheeks of your face, will you take what you will receive?

found a quicksand smile, a manhole stare
a mad-dog-with-AIDS alarm system 'beware'
got some concrete love, a strap-on lie
a pedestrian crime, the alibi

got my secret world and my modern rash
for the window-shopping eyes, aristocratic trash
got a heart of gold, some germs of steel
and I serve my excuses on banana peels

so let the sunshine crash on all your private parts
and if the dog's in heat, embrace the bark
let's make a rendez-vous, turn the lights down low
and do the cheekbone dance until the trumpets blow