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lyrics

Helen:
Out in the desert on the outskirts of town
every few years a carnival comes round
They say that it beckons til one soul comes then
it takes them and leaves and they're not seen again


The weeks when our mom wouldn't get out of bed
me and Shira would eat chocolate, berries and bread
The house would be ours and wed play make believe
pretend father came back from some kingdom far east

The weeks when our mom wouldn't really quite sleep
they were fun and yet scary, me and Shira agreed
We would build a gazebo or repaint the place
but it sat there half finished after a few days

And mom would just cackle then grab us and squeeze
i try and i try so much more than you see
I wish i was better i wish i could be
all you need but there's just one place for me

Girls we should where we really belong
to the carnival, song us a carnival song
I hear it come calling, the sweet music plays
I'll run to the carnival music one day


By the time we were teens mom had long gone away
and every few years the circus music would play
I did well at school, got good grades and good friends
i learned laughter could be not so scary and tense

But Shira she stayed in the shadows and then
never really fit in never made lots of friend
At night we would still sit together in bed
and she fought feeling manic and morose in her head

And one night she cried and she held and squeezed
said Helen i try so more than you see
I wish i was different, i wish i could be
all you need but there's one place for me

I know i should go where i really belong
to the carnival, song me a carnival song
I hear it come calling, the sweet music plays
I'll run to the carnival music one day

.....

i sit out some nights talk to Shira as if
she could still hear me, as if she had not left
I tend my affairs and look after my life
and sit out and eye the dark desert some nights

I don't know the day or the reason just yet
whether heartbreak or boredom or some minor fret
One day the carnival music will play
and i'll go and be with mum and Shira again

credits

from Miss Helen's Weird West Cabaret, The Ballad of Lost Hollow Act 1, released December 6, 2016

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Paul Shapera Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Cama’s attempt to commune with higher beings failed; she only found Decadent Dottie. Together they roamed, indulging in dangerous forms of psycho-neural self-exploration which Cama hoped would present the key to her people’s further evolution. It only led to her destroying her people so that one of their pets could evolve. She sat in her former civilization's rubble and listened to Paul Shapera. ... more

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