Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Carousel Wind









At the Garden State Plaza there's wonder to spare
By the grand old Venetian Carousel in the square
It's got ivory steeds to stir up the air
Creating a wind with a whimsical flare

O What do you dream when you wistfully stare
When the wind from the carousel ruffles your hair
See the smiles on the faces of kids spinning round
And let your mind wander with calliope sound

If you're off to Paramus and the Carousel Square
Say hello to the girl with the chestnut brown hair
She sits all alone and wistfully stares
O what does she dream does anyone care

O What do you dream when you wistfully stare...

O the carousel starts with a ring of the bell
Will you be lost in a dream or transformed for a spell
Does the wind stir your heart with phantom embraces
Or just blow your mind to far away places

At the Garden State Plaza all the children will grin
As your cares fly away with the carousel wind
And I think of the girl with the long chestnut hair
It's been quite a while since I last saw her there

O What do you dream when you wistfully stare...



© 1997 Stefan des Lauriers

I was selling Magic Pens at a kiosk beside the Venetian Carousel at the Garden State Plaza and would often notice a girl in her early twenties being left by her parents on the same bench. She looked lonely sitting there watching the carousel — it made me wonder what was going through her mind day after day — so much so that I started writing a song about her. The main theme of song was to speculate on what she might be dreaming, that perhaps the wind generated by the carousel might carry her off with its phantom embraces. I suggested in the song that if you happened to see her at the mall to say hello to her, but hadn’t done so myself. So I said hello to her and asked why she sat at the same bench beside the carousel. She said that she liked to see the smiles on the faces of the children. The carousel was decorated with ornately framed vignettes of Venice, and each time it stopped a different scene would take the girl into a new dream world.









City folk pretty folk
Itty-bitty kiddy folk
All good folks like
Toe tapping tunes
Any folk many folk
You might be
Flat pick broke
Just grab your banjos
And slap them spoons

Forget your
Belly aching
It's time for
Merry making
Guitars are all
A strumming
At the jamboree
Get your hands
A clapping
Tambourines
All a tapping
Kazoos are all
A humming
At the jamboree

Living folk giving folk
Save the swamp
And river folk
All good people like
To kick up their heals
Caring folk sharing folk
Save our only planet folk
We need a square dance
And three square meals

Committee folk witty folk
Nitty gritty city folk
All know there's
No harm in harmony
City folk pretty folk
Itty-bitty kiddy folk
This ain't no
Black tie symphony

© 1996 Stefan des Lauriers
















A Shocking Story of the Girl Left at a Carousel
The song "Carousel Wind" is about a lonely girl who sits day after day by a carousel at an indoor mall. She was in her twenties and looked socially challenged. Her parents would drop her off every day and would wonder around the mall window-shopping. At the time I was "working" (yes, I admit to the dreaded "W" word but don't tell anyone) at a kiosk beside the carousel and took notice of her sad state of affairs.
I was moved by the girl's situation and started writing the song. I wrote "If you're off to Paramus and the Carousel Square, say hello to the girl with the chestnut brown hair. She sits all alone and whistfully stares, O what does she dream does anyone care?"
Well here I am saying people should go to the mall and say hello to this poor girl and I hadn't even said hello to her myself! I was petrified. Imagine me, an average, shy guy going up to a stranger and saying hello. I mustered up my nerve and went over and said “hello.”
"Hello" she said.
"I notice you're here quite often, sitting by the carousel," I said.
"I like to see the smiles on the children's faces."
So i wrote "See the smiles on the faces of kids spinning 'round..."
You may ask what is so shocking about this story? It has something to do with me actually "working.”
I started writing the song in 1996 but was never happy with the last verse. For about five years I kept changing the words trying to perfect it. I only played it in public once, and almost recorded it with a mistake. It once went “It’s got ivory steeds and ivory mares.” What I thought that meant was stallions and mares. Anyhow I caught it and came up with “Stir up the air” which is a play on those metal things your feet go into.

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