"Carnival"
From Mission Impossible 2 Soundtrack
Updated July 5, 2000
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"Carnival"
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"Carnival" is a new song from Tori that appears on the Mission Impossible 2 Soundtrack. Promo copies of the song were circulating a few weeks before the soundtrack was released on May 9, 2000, which led to some sound clips appearing on the net and some of the early comments you will see below. The song is now officially available on the Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack in the U.S. I must say I am really impressed with Carnival! It starts with a rather slow and atmospheric, almost Suede-like feel and ends with a faster tribal beat and some whispering from Tori. The song has a length of 4:18. There has been a lot of discussion as to whether "Carnival" is a new song or a cover. The song is a remake of the classic "Manha de Carnaval", which originated from the 1959 film "Black Orpheus". The English lyrics were NOT written by Tori. There are many translations and versions of the lyrics, and this version was just one that was familiar to her. If you look at the credits for the song on the album, they say Carnival is written by Luiz Bonfa/Hugo Peretti/Luigi Creatore/George David Weiss. Produced by Tori Amos. Mixed by Mark Hawley and Marcel van Limbeek. What these credits don't tell you however is the fact that the ending of the song, when the music gets faster, is a new composition by Tori that she placed at the end of the song to spice it up. (This comes from a reliable source!) So the song is mainly a cover, but with a unique ending written by Tori. (I assume that means both the music and the words to the ending.) Look at the bottom of this page Here are the album credits for Carnival: Tori Amos Tori's manager Arthur Spivak and tour manager John Witherspoon are thanked in the liner notes. Official Lyrics To "Carnival"The U.S. and many other versions of the Mission Impossible 2 Soundtrack do not include the lyrics to the songs. RGD aka Mel tells me that the Taiwanese version of the soundtrack includes the song lyrics to each track (except for the 16th). The lyrics are in English and this represents the first time I have seen printed lyrics to Tori's "Carnival." Here they are. As usual with printed lyrics, there may be some minor errors. I call these lyrics official, but there is always a chance that they are not... I'll sing to the sun in the sky People are describing the song and taking guesses as to the lyrics. You can read some of their comments and lyrics below. This page is for comments and lyric guesses for "Carnival." Don't forget to also check out my Mission Impossible 2 Page, for general information about the Soundtrack "Carnival" appears on. The soundtrack hit the stores in the U.S. on May 9, 2000. You can order the Mission Impossible 2 Soundtrack at Tori Amos Direct. (You will also be supporting the Dent in the process if you use one of the links on this site.) "Carnival" doing well in Poland!Chris Gerard tells me that Carnival is doing well on the radio charts in Poland, reaching #23 during its fourth week on the most popular radio chart in Poland which you can see at this web site. Commentary & Lyric Guesses From Those Who Have Heard "Carnival"Some of these comments were taken from The Dent Online Forum. The rest were emailed to me. Many of the guesses were sent in before the official lyrics were posted anywhere.From RabidToriFan: June 7, 2000 - Just heard "Carnival" off the MI2 soundtrack, and after listening a few times, I am in love. Lots of people have mentioned "Venus" songs, whereas I think of the "Father Lucifer" Remix and "Siren" more when I hear it. Very dreamy and the end is incredible. The song is like an orgasm... slow and seductive at first, and then, an explosion ! Too bad this wasn't in the movie itself... it would have made excellent background music for a love scene. As much as I adore the older stuff, like "Leather", the new, more electronical stuff is great as well. I'm thankful Tori is trusting enough to show us all these different sides. Wonderful ! From F. Engin Palabiyik: June 3, 2000 - I have to say that I quite enjoy Carnival. I've been listening to it everyday since I've first heard it nearly a month go... What I wanted to tell you was that Manha de Carnaval has a Turkish version as well. It's by "Nilufer" titled "Bazen Hayaller Kurarim" and was released in 1986 or 1987. From BeeJay: May 31, 2000 - Ok, well I just got M2 today and heard Carnival for the first time and I must say that I am VERY impressed! It didn't catch me at first, but when it got to the fast tempo part I had to play it again, and that was when it all made sense. I saw some people on the forum say that they couldn't hear the piano or didn't know for sure if it was there at all, but I heard it. They added an echo effect to the piano so it was quite interesting mixed with all the other sounds. Did anyone else notice that the beginning sounds in Carnival were kind of like the space sounds in Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas? With this song, it seems like Tori is growing musically. With Choirgirl, she married the piano with the drums and touched a bit on electronic programming with Cruel and Hotel. Then came Venus which was smothered in electronica. I think what she lacked in Venus was a marriage of her piano with the electronics. You would get those songs like Glory of the 80s and Riot Poof where a piano was not to be heard, then came songs like Bliss and Lust that tried to mix the two together and all that came out was the piano against a neat little drum kit which wasn't all that ground breaking. With Carnival, I think she mastered the art of combining the two and it seems like she gave equal time to her piano and the electronic effects and it worked out quite nicely! Hopefully we'll get much more songs like this on her next album (cross your fingers). From siren11: May 31, 2000 - I totally agree that Carnival is a great song. The fast drum part at the end really ads to it. I have to say, I didn't hear the piano part at first. But after listening to it about a billion () times, I'm starting to hear it too. I can't get over how much Tori has progressed since LE. I hope she keeps on going cuz her new stuff is genius.(and so is her older stuff!) From annehedley: May 31, 2000 - Everyone's probably already figured this out by now, but I'm pretty certain about what Tori's saying during the whispering part of "Carnival." Last night, my friend and I were listening to the whispers in Carnival: "...the way you walk in a door, the way you CAN, the way you're telling me you're not a dangerous man, I said, again, I say again, I'm not that kind of woman..." trying to determine whether Tori is saying at the end "I'm not that kind of woman," (which is what we thought she is saying), or if she's saying "I'm not that Carnival." After repeating the whispers about twenty times, my friend realized that Tori's saying both! The part she accentuates and I hear clearer is "...I'm not that kind of woman...," but very deep and layered underneath that Tori also sings "..I'm not that Carnival..." I find this very exciting and intriguing and I hope this has interested someone else in the vast expanses of Toriland, but if not, oh well. From joseph: May 25, 2000 - i viewed mission impossible 2 tonight and i regret to inform you that CARNIVAL is nowhere to be found. it is EXEUNT from the whole film. oh well, i still enjoyed the film. From Michelle Verna: May 25, 2000 - Carnival lyric guesses: i sing to the sun in the sky
carnival time is here
i'll sing while he plays his guitar
may love come my way
carnival time is here
i sing while he plays his guitar
will love come my way
will true love come my way
stay stay stay stay in me
i say it again the way you walk in a door the way you can the way you dirty me you're not a dangerous man i'll say it again i'll say it again i'm not that kind of woman dirty me From Giovanni Mantilla: May 25, 2000 - Tori's "Carnival" is delightful. I didn't understand a word of what she was saying at first, but after reading the lyric guesses sent by other people (which seem to be perfect), my listening experience was complete! It has a bit of "Suede", a lot of "Cruel", some "Bliss" and yet more NIN. Truly gorgeous. Although I WOULD like to hear a piano-only version of it (sans the effects). From bobby, the bee collector: May 22, 2000 - So, my school has this pretty lame news show every morning called Channel One (Lisa Ling of the View used to be an anchor) and they were doing a report on drugs and "Carnival" was playing in the background :) They've also played "Rabbit in the Moon," before too and "Blue Skies," and "Pro Widow Armand's Star Trunk Funkin Dunkin Luckin whatever mix." It was during the quick re-cap about the different cases..it was the very beginning of Carnival after the drums kick in just repeated over and over again. The keyboard (I think its keyboard) jingling sounds were more pronounced for some reason, but it was definitely "Carnival." From Ted O'Connor: May 15, 2000 - I bought MI2 yesterday (it was sold out at my local shop on Tuesday...must have been all the Limp Bizkit knuckleheads) and have listened to Carnival like 12 times. I LOVE IT! It's definitely one of her best...lots of ethereal atmosphere and some show tune type singing too. This is definitely a showcase of her evolution (which I guess some don't like), which makes me like her newer stuff from Choirgirl forward even more than her other music. Thanks for all the updates and info on it...you had my appetite going strong for 3 months! From Tori'sFaerie: May 15, 2000 - I first heard this song, about 2 weeks ago, cause I found it on Napster, and I think it is absolutely amazing. She never fails to impress me. This song really reminds me of "Liquid Diamonds", which is one of my favourites, since they are both very seductive, "Carnival" being more so. From iciclespark: May 15, 2000 - Having to wait to buy the CD sucks. Having to wait for HMV to deliver cuz it's far more expensive in the stores (including HMV) also blows. So I got MI2 Friday (two day shipping from HMV.com wow). Here's my thoughts so far. Limp Bizkit - I like. I know a lot of you think they blow. I don't like much of their stuff. But I like this. Don't ask. I don't know. The rest of the CD except Tori - overall it's okay. not my fave soundtrack, a little harder than the music I like, but it's not completely crap. So it wasn't a complete waste of 13.99 CARNIVAL - I haven't been this orgasmically happy to hear a Tori "cover" (it is, after all, a new version of an old song) since I heard Do It Again. FUCK! WOW! So trippy. It reminds me of a "Dividing canaan" part of datura mixed with the verse instrumentation of Bliss, dashed with a spicy, more exotic Siren. Very yummy. I go into a complete trance listening to it...... the whispering is especially delicious. From Assless Pants: May 15, 2000 - YES. IT'S AMAZING. I havent heard the whole soundtrack - only Carnival. It had me from the beginning. I happen to LOVE the songs Tori does for other soundtracks. Siren.... Butterfly.... now Carnival. Oh lordy. It's so trance-like and different and powerful. The lyrics are NOT typical Tori, but again, neither are the lyrics in Siren. It's funky, and dark, and beautiful. I'm not sure what it's about, but it seems tragic. The lyrics are beautiful in their simplicity, and they aren't cheesy. When the tribal beat comes in.... wow. And the whispering part. I love the way she sings "kind to the moon" (if that IS what she was singing). I remember walking around in Halifax a couple days before I heard this whilst on a concert band trip, wondering what this song would sound like. I have not been dissapointed. From ebbNflow: May 15, 2000 - those drums get me off! From Kerri: May 15, 2000 - I love 'Carnival' but it seems like a radio edit...you know, compressed for time's sake. It's a feeling like, well, there's an extended version lurking out there somewhere. For example, it's towards the end of the song and Tori's singing her "you-ooo-ooo"'s and this wonderful racket from the guitar begins to weave it's way in when the song just abruptly ends. Everytime it catches my attention and I'm like "what, it's over already?!" I feel if the song was allowed to linger a few seconds longer it would sound so much more "complete" to me. *shrug* I wonder if the producers of the soundtrack specified a certain time limit to the musicians because all of the tracks relatively have the same time length. From Bogdi: May 15, 2000 - I thought I was gonna hate the damn CD, except for Tori but...drumroll...NO! I like: 1. Butthole Surfers- fun and dynamic the rest= I looove Carnival, I knew I was gonna like it after the first measures= the trippier the better. Still funny to hear her within the context of the CD From girl with red ribbon: May 15, 2000 - I listened to Carnival on mp3 and this is what happened: i went from :|to :) to :D and was dancing and jumping arround the room. Wow what a song !! I just love the way her voice sounds and also i love the whispering part. I love it just as much as her other soundtracks like siren !!! From Exodus Laughing (Brandon): May 15, 2000 - i was a little irked at first because i wanted a totally new tori song, and i guess a cover is as new as we get. oh well. the song is great though! i love it so much and have been listening to it nonstop. it reminds me of the dividing canaan part of Datura, also (like the thread originator), and then goes into a Swirl - lip gloss version type of feeling. it's really powerful. i really like the whole soundtrack...powderfinger, buckcherry, chris cornell, limp bizkit, and tinfed are my personal faves so far, besides tori of course From iciclespark: May 15, 2000 - I know I get the eerie sense that it's unfinished...... especially the end....... I get images in my head of someone awakening at dawn and wandering the streets as the light gets higher and higher and then it suddenly plunges into night at the faster part and suddenly a carnival celebration is everywhere and Tori's running through a crowded street, pushed this way andthat by the crowd, being chased by a man in a mask.... Maybe that's why it's so abrupt, because it's meant to conjure up the building festivities that suddenly halt as everything stops? I wish it went on for ten minutes......mmmmmmm From Bogdi: May 15, 2000 - he he, in my case it feels like it's nighttime, no matter what "I sing to the sun in the sky" lyrics it's got. Torches are the only lights and the street is crowded. Tori's character is in a sort of daze (or on something, or simply lost in her own thoughts), although she notices what's going on around, it's at half speed, w/a delay= slow motion, till the "stay..." part, where she snaps out of it or fuses the 2 worlds cos they're both joyful. From Holly: May 11, 2000 - it reminds me of the studio version of sugar because its echo-ey and haunting....and i think i'm the only one...haha, oh well. but anyway, i love it, and it is sexy and calls for repeat after repeat. get it asap! From Audrey (Pandoraud): May 11, 2000 - you MUST listen to it, it is breathtaking, haunting, seductive and has this air of agedness and mystery. i LOVE it! From neontorifan: May 11, 2000 - I think it sounds like bachlorette meets purple people do you think this was meant as a bside From timmie (killed the purple monkey): May 11, 2000 - the first time
i listened to it, i was pretty shocked.. well, since i know that it usually
takes me some time to fall in love with tori-songs, i didn't write any
comments until now. but by now i've listened to it several times and i can
still say i really don't like it... if i wouldn't know it's by tori i'd hate
it probably.. it's just boring. yes, it reminds me of juarez, too, only i
kinda like that one ever since i heard tori's piano-solo-version of juarez.
but heck, tori amos has teh most beautiful voice in this universe and the
only way to make it sound even more perfect is to have her pretty
piano-playing in the background. she's really the very last musician who
needs to modify her voice with any technical devices. tori, if you should
ever read this: LEAVE THE COMPUTER CRAP TO BRITTNEY AND SHOW US KEEP SHOWING
US, WHAT YOU REALLY CAN! i mean, don't get me wrong, guys, i love "hotel" and
"caught a lite sneeze" and pretty much all the songs on the new album
("datura" included), coz i really love tori's voice. and i think that's what
makes her so unique and awesome. and i just can't see, why she would put
exactly that element in the background now, as she does in carnival and
juarez. i'm kinda afraid that now, that carnival is the second song in the
juarez-style, that tori will keep doing stuff like that. PLEASE DON'T!!! you
can do way better than that! oh, and once i am stupidly imagining that tori
is reading this: TORI, PLEASE COME BACK TO EUROPE SOON! and bring a good
accoustic version of carnival with you, so that i might finally like it, too!
well, so much for my opinion, keep twinkling everybody, From Daniel: May 9, 2000 - I just wanted to add some cultural comments on Carnival. The song is DEFINATELY the same, since "Manhã de Carnaval" is a relatively popular song in Brazil, where I'm currently living. Luiz Bonfá did write it, and it's about a man finding love during Carnaval, as you've probably seen from the lyrics. Now, the purpose of this is basically to explain what Carnaval IS. It IS spelt with an A, although Tori probably changed it as a cultural adaptation of sorts. Carnaval is a one-week holiday in Brazil with pagan European roots, very similar to Mardi-Gras and the Carnaval in Venice. Brazilian Carnival, however, has an organized (well, technically :P) parade in the two major cities (Sao Paulo and Rio) where people dressed in shiny costumes dance to samba songs. Each city has different "schools" of samba, and each school chooses a theme ("samba-enredo") and their costumes and songs and cars represent it. In the Northeastern regions the festival is far less organized; usually there's one truck ("Trio Eletrico") with an axé (afro-brazilian-ish music) band playing and their troupe ("Bloco") following behind, dancing and screaming wildly. From GayPixie21: April 30, 2000 - I researched the song at the copyright office and it seems it was originally written by someone named Luiz Bonfa. I also got a translation of what Manha de Carnival means (I don't know if you have that yet) it means Morning of the Carnival. Carlos Barbosa-Lima in 1984 appears to have recorded the music then another with lyrics in Portuguese (I think it's in Portuguese) by Sandy Bull in 1988 to the music of Carlos Barbosa-Lima. I did find other entries but all of them had the Luiz Bonfa reference. It appears he wrote the song. From Violet: April 30, 2000 - I didn't see this in anyone else's guesses: the second line of the chorus is "Magical time of year". Carnival time is here From Audrey: April 30, 2000 - For those of you who are curious about what the other versions of "Manha de Carnaval" actually sound like in comparison to Tori's version: you can download 3 different versions of the song including the Joan Baez version, courtesy of Audrey, at: From Mark H Weidman: April 30, 2000 - hey mike, i don't why i am sending this, but i was going to tell you that 2 other versions i got off of napster for manha de carnaval were: (Tuck Andress)-Manha De Carnaval From Mark: April 30, 2000 - I just heard "Carnival" and it reminds me of Lust and Suede also. I got it off of Napster, which I get lots of stuff off of. I was wondering if you had ever commented about Napster on your site, and if Tori ahad ever made a comment on it. I can't decide if it is a good or bad thing. I will still buy all of Tori's CDs, but I don't know if I will do that for other artists. There was some retro type music that I found on Napster that made me go buy some CDs, but that does not happen often. Anyway, I don't understand why MP3.com got shut down. [Comment from Mikewhy: Mp3.com was found guilty of copyright infringement in court. They are appealing and are still in business, but if they lose the appeal, they will likely go out of business.] I think Napster poses a bigger threat (if there is a threat) than anyone else. Metallica and Dr. Dre are in the process of or already have brought suits against Napster. I have found a lot of Tori remixes on Napster though that have never been available on CDs. I think they are like remixes done by fans, and they are wonderful! Anyway, before I found Tori's Carnival on Napster, I found some guitar only versions of Mana de Carnaval: 1)Al Di Meola, Paco De lucia, John McLaughlin - Manha de Carnaval 2)Bonfa - Manha de Carnaval and when you listen to them, you hear the same tune as tori's song so that's cool that it is sticking to the original in a sense. I haven't heard Joan Baenz's version yet. I don't think the sojng could be played in a sex scene with the fast part in it. They would have to just play the slow part. I have listened to 2 other songs on the soundtrack by Metallica and Limp Bizkit, and they are really mediocre. From Jennifer Mitts Cypres (posted to the Precious Things mailing list): April 30, 2000 - Hi all! I've just listened to Carnival several times and here's my guess on the lyrics. "Carnival"
I sing to the sun in the sky
Carnival dancer, magical time of youth
Carnival dancer, magical time of youth
Stay... (oh, dear) My vision of the song: it's about a gypsy girl who's secretly in love with her first cousin, but it's a forbidden love. However, traveling on the road and doing the show, they've kind of had this hot streak for each other, and it's hard not to want him as she watches him dance and play the guitar bathed in glorious firelight when there's really no one else around to tempt her tummy. P.S. The end of the song, when she chants-- is anyone else reminded of that P.J. Harvey song that goes, "Little fish, big fish, swimming in the water, come back here and give me my daughter?" From Liz (posted to the Precious Things mailing list): April 30, 2000 - Anyway, I just wanted to mention how incredible this song is! I went over to the Dent and read some of the comments, and it seems that reactions are mixed. I really really enjoy this song, it reminds me of 'Juarez' in that it has a very slow dreamy feel to the beginning of it, but it also has the sensuality of 'Suede'... it's so calm, I love it! And then, just as you think it's ending it gets fast and 'Hotel' like! Completely wonderful. Once again, I love this song! From Orange Jasmine (Esther): April 30, 2000 - It certainly grows on you. The first time I heard it I wasn't thrilled about it at all. But now after hearing it about 6 times I really like it! It's going round and round in my head at the moment. Even though I do miss he piano as well and the lyrics aren't realy deep, but I love he rhythm! From Trouble Taking Place: April 30, 2000 - I thought the song was great BECAUSE of the lyrics! It's alot better than her usual "purple monkey" nonsense. I just wish she would pronounce her words a little better so we could understand the whole thing. Really, it would be nice if she released one song that didn't have a whole, "Lyric Guess" page devoted to it. The echo effect is annoying too. Otherwise, it's Oscar-worthy. From Mickey (posted to the ToriNews mailing list): April 29, 2000 - In case you young'uns don't recognized the song, it's "Manha de Carnival (Carnival Morning)" also known as the theme from the movie "Black Orpheus", composed by the Brazilian great Luiz Bonfa. I first heard the song on Sandy Bull's 1964 (that's right, SIXTY-four, I was fiteen, okay, you don't have to rub it in) album "Inventions", where he played an instrumental version on the oud, a lute-shaped Middle Eastern instrument most recently highlighted on Loreena McKennitt's "Mummer's Dance". From Marc Ducusin: April 29, 2000 - I'm liking this song the more I hear it. Tori has definitely given the track a classic feel-- I can just picture her performing it in some dimly lit cabaret, shrouded in smoke. It reminds me a bit of Kurt Weill. I also appreciate how the Latin influence is kept subtle, sort of buried in the rhythms. The harder, more electronica-flavoured part of the song took me completely by surprise.ð Here's my take on the lyrics; I mainly agree with Superfly and RaisinGirrl (and Holly's corrections) [see below], but there are a few differences: I sing to the sun in the sky It's pretty much the same after that : ) From Luciano Ferreira: April 29, 2000 - I've been privileged enough to listen to Tori Amos' song "Carnival", taken from the much-publicised Mission Impossible 2 Soundtrack. Here are my thoughts about Carnival: Carnival begins with a shallow (hollow)- steady beat, Tori's voice is soft and wavering as if we were picking up another radio transmission from the atmosphere of planet Venus, however, (I contradict myself by saying that,) her vocals have the crystal clarity of an inner-conscious speaking to the conscious mind. Her voice and the rhythm of the song swoons like a calm tide at night or as if she were an aged and tired Merry-go-round in an abandoned carnival park singing for someone. As the song progresses the guitar accompanies her sad, beautiful vocals, and then the song becomes silent, but not a second later a heavy tribal beat breathes a new life into the song, and again the song breaks, but Tori's voice becomes a swarm of whispers (as if it were the misleading calm eye of a tropical storm) and then the heavy, sensual beat returns and it peaks to a sequence of smashing drums and percussion and then falls silent with only a snippet remaining of the swooning rhythm to finish the song. After thoughts: The song reminds me of the atmosphere found in "to venus and back"'s "Suede" - but the ending reminds me of "from the choirgirl hotel"'s "Cruel". Someone said that she'd like to hear the song during a love scene. I agree. From Emily Cook: April 29, 2000 - Hi. I have some inside info about the song "Carnival". I grew up in Brazil and am very familiar with this song. It is no more than a wonderful, upbeat, song about the annual carnival and love (as most Brazilian songs are). However, Tori's song is absolutely a cover, it is just... well... completely different. (ahem, as most of her "covers" are). The lyrics of the two songs are different. It seems like someone told Tori what the song was BASICALLY about and she just took it from there. None the less, both songs are great. Let's just leave it at that. From devil's trumpet: April 29, 2000 - thumbs up...i love it and can't get enough! yes, the lyrics are not up to par, the piano is drowned out, but it still rocks!! i love that bridge.....and the whispering!!! yum! From circles and circles: April 29, 2000 - I wish the song was more like the last minute of it. The end rocks! From remixx kidd: April 29, 2000 - I definitely need time for it to grow on me as I do with all Tori songs when I first hear them. I love the structure of the song and the way it almost unexpectedly changes. I hate being able to predict the flow of a song and this one is far from predictable. Repetition gets boring. I also think it was intentional to have Tori's voice be even[sonicly] with the beat to have it be absorbed more as a whole rather than one overpowering the other. I thought it was successful. I think once I get the CD, hear it in studio quality it will attach to me like a big welcomed parasite. From Lumi: April 29, 2000 - I like it. Maybe not her best work but it's better than most of the songs from Venus. From vanmorrison: April 29, 2000 - Absolutely horrible. I am not one of those types who only wants Tori to do the piano and girl thing. I absolutely adore Choirgirl and Venus is pretty solid as well. But, I will admit that I am pretty partial to Tori songs at the extremes: 1) I tend to love the slower songs with the gorgeous piano. 2)or, the songs that really rock or get funky in parts. This song falls dead-center in the middle for me. It is about as mid-tempo as Tori has ever been. Whatever happened to the odd rhythms and sudden changes of tempo that were crucial to many of her songs? The song does not have a good melody, and does not rock or groove at any point. There just isn't much to latch onto. And, the ending is even worse than the start of the song. The ending sounds way too much like 80's production value to me. That approach worked pretty well on some of the Venus songs (eg--Glory of the 80's), but it adds nothing to the song here. So, yeah, I don't like the song is what I am trying to say . Oh well, at least she was smart enough not to put it on a full album.....Late From shaggy: April 28, 2000 - i've been researching the origins of Carnival tonight, and i came up with a little bit more...i cant seem to find a straight english translation of it anywhere, but it was sort of re-written in english by Carl Sigman, and changed to "A Day In The Life Of A Fool", the lyrics are... A day in the life of a fool
I stop just across from your door it was sung and made popular by Frank Sinatra in his hayday. Other than that I can't really seem to find anything else about it in english, but it sounds like a lot of people have had their own takes on this particular song.... From OnlyBride: April 28, 2000 - I haven't gone through all of the lyrics, but there's on area right at the end that I really hear differently to all of the lyrics I've read. I hear "I'm not that kind of a woman" instead of "I'm not the carnival" in the following lines. Anyone agree? "you're not a dangerous man From CosmicCreepers: April 28, 2000 - That last bit is definately Tori---- "I'm not the Carnival..." interesting how she takes the beginning (relatively straight-forward and optimistic) and turns it on its head---it becomes a threat. It becomes angry....... Really cool From pYx~the~Wicked: April 28, 2000 - My turn. Gimme a whack at it. "CARNIVAL"
i sing to the sun
i sing while he plays his guitar
carnival time is near
i sing while he plays his guitar
will true love
stay in me
i say tori's trying to be international. when she says "dangerous" she rolls the r with her uvula, like the french pronunciation. kind of a teaser growl, if you will. From Violet: April 27, 2000 - The melody isn't Tori's. It's the original, the song composed for the film "Black Orpheus." It's a classic standard, heard in music boxes, elevators, lounges, and dentists' offices everywhere (though not heard anywhere nearas often as it was in the 60s and 70s -- but then that's also true of things like "Lara's Theme" and "Girl From Ipanema", which used to be everywhere, too). But all the lyrics are Tori's own. The end part -- the sped up bit -- is Tori's addition, too. Try to think of it as the equivalent of "Whiter Shade of Pale." "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was based on the opening bars/melody line from Bach's "Air On The G String," but Procol Harum totally reworked it and added lyrics. Or the way "Candle in the Wind" was rewritten (although by the original lyricist) when Princess Diana died. Half new, half old. From Adam Whitehurst (vertigogo): April 27, 2000 - Just thought I'd put in my two cents on Tori's "Carnival." I have heard it, and I also have an mp3 of Joan Baez singing "Manha de Carnaval," and from all I can tell, it IS the same song. Almost certainly. So, this is the Tori take on an old song, rather than a completely new composition. Though, I like the Tori version quite a lot. You can download the Joan Baez version of "Manha de Carnaval" from http://www.unc.edu/~apw/manha.mp3 . They're such different versions, it's hard to believe they're the same song. I had to listen pretty closely. For the record, I also found a Stan Getz version of this song, and I am 100% sure it's a cover. From Kris (Cruel2000@aol.com): April 27, 2000 - Well, I'm surprised I haven't read this on your page! When I first heard Tori was going to do a remake of "Manha de Carnaval", I found it on Napster sung by a woman named Joan Baez (if you haven't heard of her, she is a folk artist and human rights activist). Then finally today I heard Tori's version of the song. And I can confirm that the tune in Tori's version is the EXACT same tune as Joan Baez's version, except for the fact that Tori's words are different...but it is literally the exact same tune. Joan Baez's version of Manha de Carnaval is sung in a different language than English (I believe it's Portuguese) so I don't know what lyrics Joan Baez is singing. So I can confirm that Tori's "Carnival" is NOT an original composition. The lyrics may be...I'm going to do some more research on it... I love the song though! It is such a beautiful melody!!!! Oh and just for the record...Joan Baez covered "Manha de Carnaval", she is not the writer. It is just the only recording of the song that I could find. The writer of "Manha de Carnaval" is Luiz Bonfa. Well, after searching the net, I finally came across the Portuguese lyrics and the English translation. And the lyrics in Tori's version is NOT the english translation of the Portuguese lyrics. So either she got the lyrics from somewhere else, or she wrote them herself (I think it's safe to say they are original). Also, I think it's safe to say that the ending that Tori does is original too. [You can find the Portuguese lyrics and English translation mentioned here below.] However, as you can see, there are parallels between Tori's lyrics and the original lyrics. (Guitar, the morning). I dunno. Maybe it was inspired by the movie...?? From christina: April 27, 2000 - let's not kid ourselves, man. this song is a cover. if tori herself tried to claim this was an original song, they could probably SUE her and win. it's so similiar, even with the other lyrics and not counting joan baez' cover. it's more like the lyrics have been. have lost something in translation, if anything. i can't think of the word for losing something in translation (not deviated or distorted, but similiar) well, if i could think of that word, i'd say what this is a case of, hehe. at any rate, i think it should stop being referred to as a new song. at the very least, stop using the word "unique" because that, it definitely is NOT. "inspired" shouldn't be used in reference either, heh. it is an interesting song. it blends the sound effects of suede and hotel with the vocals of when she covered madonna's "live to tell" if that makes any sense, pj harvey whispering, the youuuuuuus sounding like the hooooos of just about any tori song live, and an underwater feel. i wouldn't say i like it, heh. i don't really see it as a sex scene song, either, as many have said. it is a bit mysterious-sounding, though. kind of like if everybody was sitting in a room, and you didn't know who you could trust, and everybody's eyeing each other. if that makes any sense, either. From Jogo: April 27, 2000 - it makes me want to turn out my lights and get some sort of motion light, not a mirror ball, but something along those lines. It seems very sensual in the beginning, and I'm willing to bet this plays during a sex scene in the movie. (Which someone will have to tell me because I won't see it...) :) It kinda reminds me of Suede, the beat anyway, but the music itself is different, and the piano is not very prominent, just a few notes here and there... I like the end when it kind of gets more upbeat...It's a nice finish. Overall, i give it two thumbs up. :) From Superfly: April 27, 2000 - Okay, I've tried to transcribe these lyrics while listening to the MP3. They could be totally wrong though, so please correct me if you think they're wrong.... I sing to the sun in the sky
Carnival time is here
I sing while he plays his guitar
Carnival time is here
I sing while he plays his guitar
Will true love come my way
you From RasinGirrl: April 27, 2000 - I sing to the sun in the sky
Carnival time is here
I sing while he plays his guitar
Carnival time is here
I sing while he plays his guitar
Will true love come my way
you From Holly: April 27, 2000 - all those lyrics look fab except where you have "will he come my way"...replace he with love... i think it sounds likes will love come my way i could be wrong though... From GimpyPoop (Me, The Flea): April 27, 2000 - Da middle-end part makes me wanna break out da face paint and dance naked round a fire. K, it's grand! From Holly: April 27, 2000 - On a first listen...I like it... its very...huge..all the sounds bouncing off the walls back and forth or something...and i like the pace.... i think my favorite part about it is the way tori's voice sounds...very light... it sorta reminds me of the studio version of sugar... i can't wait to figure out all the lyrics... From MarcGhost: April 27, 2000 - WOW...I dont know what to say, but I think I am going to love this once I get use to it. Its so nice. Wholly SHIT I just hit the fast part !!!! I bet they use this during a sex scene...This is so sexy!!! From devil's trumpet: April 27, 2000 - i'm not too partial to it yet, which is good, because that means i'll love it later. i would have liked to hear more piano and more vocals, but i do like the musica nd the song...especially the whispering... From OnlyBride: April 27, 2000 - Hmm, this is kind of like Suede. If you take away all of the effects this actually sounds like a very conventional piece of music (think 1000 oceans....like you've heard the tune somewhere before). Did Tori write this song or is she just lending her vocals. Also, who can see this getting radio play? I can for sure! Just editing my post here......it's growing on me....and that whispering PJ Harvey style is intersting. From kayne: April 27, 2000 - I like it. I want to hear the original so I can see how much is Tori, how much isn't. I hope that if she sticks with the band, she heads more in this direction sonically. I really like it. On second listen I hear more piano in there than I noticed at first. Still plenty of the good old keyboard Hotelishlike. From sacred_00: April 27, 2000 - oh my god !!!!!!!!!!!! that was soooo amazing!!! I am speechless!!! It was soo cool how they did it, very slow at the beginning then fast at the end, like when the merry-go-round starts slow then goes faster, you know, "carnival", woooooo!!!! I can't wait for the soundtrack, hell, I'll gladly pay 15 bucks for one song!!! From spedina: April 27, 2000 - yeah finally got it.......ok my opinion. tori was doing some drugs there for sure hehe i think the beginning is reminiscent of purple people, that last part umm, makes me think of Garbage.....gotta play it a few more times to figure if i like it or not. From blue girls: April 27, 2000 - I don't feel like it is "suedish" at all, but I can see why you would say that. To me, the beginning is much more like "lust" [if you have to compare!]. I am so glad I read this thread before I listened to the song. The fast part just kicks right in and it made me giggle! It is like a couple of lovers fooling around and all of a sudden one of them starts a tickle fight! From DrOwNeD wOrLd: April 27, 2000 - Ok, even though I already got some tonight, Carnival was sooo much better! Hehe! Tori must have listened to some of your bitching about her 2nd rate electronica and decided to rock the house on this one! Especially at the end. Whew, I need to go lie down...prrrr From lizzy: April 27, 2000 - it sssoooooooooooooooooooooooooo reminds me of 'cirque du soliel' circa 'alegria'. i love it so so so much. From ashre9: April 27, 2000 - Oh my god! How on earth does she manke her voice sound so sweet and sexy at the same time? This is a really interesting song, and her voice has such an amazing quality, I think it may catch a lot of attention if they used it right in the movie. That's a good thing, i guess, though I'm not really sure I can imagine a bunch of Mission Impossible fans becoming tori fans. But I don't want to underestimate people..... From nicANDjethro: April 27, 2000 - "Carnival" makes me feel soooo.... SEXY! God, this song has movement!!!! I feel as though I could sway and move my hips to this all day (and night!! ) Very powerful and feminine and erotic! From franco: April 27, 2000 - just wanted to add my thoughts on "carnival" okay, so that all stops about three minutes into it, and we enter into the aggressive hunting portion. it goes from seductive to mysterious. the whispering and the unmistakably tori "i said, again, i said, again... and then the rhythm gets even more pulsing and charged. yeah, i dont really know what this is all about yet, but it will be fun to walk around the city for the next couple of days and figure it out. From Pele-Boy18: April 27, 2000 - The lyrics are very conventional, they sound kinda cheesey, kinda like a 1,000 oceans vibe. The only two songs I can truely say I don't like are 1,000 oceans and Winter. And that is what the lyrics remind me of. I think this song is really about the music, not about the message. I like the song, but I hope this doesn't turn into a habbit. Then again look at Happy Workers! I think it's just Tori cutting back, and having fun, and she deserves to do this. From Antigone: April 27, 2000 - I think it's fine. Just OK. Eh. I've listened to it twice through - maybe if I listen to it more I'll like it more. For now, it's not as exciting to me as Siren was. From I_Know_My_Chicken: April 27, 2000 - I love love love love love it. It doesn't have the same imagery as her other songs, but, it is putting me in a trance none the less...I miss the piano, but, it is sort of reminding me of Portishead, and thats always a good thing to me. But, I would like to hear it done live, with just tori and her piano.. From I Sang Holy Holy: April 27, 2000 - i miss the piano and the lyrics aren't the best ever for a tori piece, but i still love the song. the more i listen to it, the more i like it too. I can see why some people wouldn't like Carnival, but I love it and think it kicks ass! Not all songs have to be deep lyrically for me to dig them though...and some songs speak to some people just 'cause of where they are at that moment. That whispering as the tempo speeds up is groovy though. From ryejay: April 27, 2000 - This song reminds me of Happy Workers in the sense that it seems like Tori is just having a lot of fun ... it's not necessarily typical Tori style. Do I like it or not? I don't *dislike* it ... I dislike few Tori songs. But it's not my favourite ... she's done a lot better. From Honey (Nathan): April 27, 2000 - So, I am gonna get trashed and flamed for this - but, this song is definitely not one of Tori's best. It lacks emotional depth and is quite honestly a throwaway track. I mean, don't get me wrong - its decent and none of these new teeny-boppers could even touch this - but, overall its just not all that great. I think that when, if ever, it were played live - it would be great - but, its just not a very good studio song. Negative: Positive: Well, thats my opinion. OK - so, me & "Carnival" have taken another dance within the confines of my headphones - and she isn't all THAT bad. I really like the ending with the whispering and the spead up beat - it makes me wanna just dance and really go at it. I am like this with all of Tori's new stuff - at first I am like "What In The Hell Is This"?!?!?!?!?! - and then once I go there - then its all good - but I am going now to go booty shake with "Carnival". From spedina: April 27, 2000 - i don't think too much of it either. it sounds too much like some of her other songs.....and the electronica thing going on, i dunno. I don't think she pulls it off well either......I probably won't even buy the soundtrack. i know i know, tori makes money off it, but fairly, i'm basing it on the lack of quality....so yeah! on a good note, i think it will make a good stoner song b/c of the suedish feel to it. From ChoirgirlEarthquake: April 27, 2000 - It is very exotic, very madonna-ish - in some ways. I like it... From piano_girl76: April 27, 2000 - I know someone had brought this up earlier but if you listen really closely at about 40 seconds you will heare the piano come in and she is there for quite a while, I can even hear it in the more manic part of the song. She is beating out the chords along with the synthesizer or whatever they are using. She's there though and that makes me extremely happy!!! I knew she wouldn't abandon the piano!!! Oh yeah, I really am digging this song!!! I have listened to it at least 10 times in a row. I think it flows in the beggining then gets a bit crazy and I like that!! I know it is not usual Tori but hey we all do things that may not seem like us sometimes. It's all good!!!!! From RasinGirrl: April 27, 2000 - I don't like it. It may grow on me but I doubt it. I said it was a cross between Phantom of the Opera and Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame. From pYx: April 27, 2000 - Alls I have to say is, I really wish that fast part was longer. Hope someone out there will make it into a remix. They have to. I liked it so much my nipples went hard. That means it's good. Real good. Remix go fast hurry now dammit yes. The Connection To "Black Orpheus" And Other Versions Of "Manha de Carnaval"From Mikewhy: Updated May 9, 2000 - There has been a lot of discussion as to whether "Carnival" is a new song or a cover. The song is a remake of the classic "Manha de Carnaval", which originated from the 1959 film "Black Orpheus". The English lyrics were NOT written by Tori. There are many translations and versions of the lyrics, and this version was just one that was familiar to her. If you look at the credits for the song on the album, they say Carnival is written by Luiz Bonfa/Hugo Peretti/Luigi Creatore/George David Weiss. Produced by Tori Amos. Mixed by Mark Hawley and Marcel van Limbeek. What these credits don't tell you however is the fact that the ending of the song, when the music gets faster, is a new composition by Tori that she placed at the end of the song to spice it up. (This comes from a reliable source!) So the song is mainly a cover, but with a unique ending written by Tori. (I assume that means both the music and the words to the ending.) Black Orpheus is a 1959 film directed by Marcel Camus. It is the re-telling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice set in Rio de Janeiro during the Carnival. You can read about this film at imusic.com and the Internet Movie Database (where it is called "Orfeu Negro"). As mentioned at imusic.com, "The score for Black Orpheus was written by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfa, two prime movers of the Brazilian music scene of the 1950's forward. The overpowering strength of the musical elements of the film brought samba music to the ears of European and American audiences for the first time, and were a major influence in the growth of Brazilian music into the "bossa nova" craze of the 1960's." You can see the track listing for the original soundtrack at the ArtistDirect SuperStore. There you will see that one of the songs on the soundtrack was called, "Manha de Carnaval," which means "Morning of the Carnival." You can also hear a sound clip from that song at ArtistDirect. That sound clip does not include any singing, but other recorded versions of the song do have lyrics, such as the sound clip of the song by Luiz Bonfa at CDNOW's web site. "Manha de Carnaval" has been recorded by several different artists. When I try to find versions that have lyrics, I find different results. A Joan Baez version I heard is in Portuguese. Below you can find the English translation of Joan's version (Thanks to David Louie who had his friend Fernanda do this translation!): Morning so beautiful
After this happy day
My heart sings Singer Luis Miguel did the song in Spanish. You can see those lyrics on this Luis Miguel web page along with an English translation. The English lyrics are reproduced below: Blue, the morning is clear blue.
Afterwards... I don't know if there is an afterwards,
Afterwards... I don't know if there is an afterwards,
My heart will sing, (that's) its reason for living, The Bossa Nova Guitar Transcriptions web page has different lyrics for the song from a version sung by Luiz Bonfa. Here are the English and Portuguese lyrics:
You can compare these lyrics to the lyrics for the Tori song that are above. F. Engin Palabiyik tells me that "Manha de Carnaval" has a Turkish version as well. It's by "Nilufer" titled "Bazen Hayaller Kurarim" and was released in 1986 or 1987. For those of you who are curious about what the other versions of "Manha de Carnaval" actually sound like in comparison to Tori's version: you can download 3 different versions of the song including the Joan Baez version, courtesy of Audrey, at: |
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