The Carnival Is Over - chords, tab and comments


In 1965 Tom Springfield captured the russian folk tune "Stenka Razin", wrote this song inspired by visiting a carnival in Brazil and gave it to the Australian group "The Seekers". Featuring the excellent vocal of Judith Durham (IMHO the voice of the century); at the peak it sold 90000 copies each day in UK solely. Ever after, they rounded up their concerts with this song. They split up in 1968, Durham going solo, and reunited in 1998 for exclusive performances - keeping on this way until 2004. "The Carnival Is Over" was meant to be the conclusion of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, but it was cancelled: Judith had broken her hip, and the rest of the group refused any substitute. Instead they closed up the Paralympics Game later on ... Judith in a wheelchair!
A                         E          E7            A
say goodbye my own true lover as we sing a lovers song
A7       D                 C#m  F#m            Bm7       E7
how it breaks my heart to leave you now the carnival is gone
       A                 E             E7                A
high above the dawn is waiting and my tears are falling rain
A7        D   E7   C#m F#m        Bm7  Esus4  A
for the carnival is over  we may never meet again
A7       D                 C#m             Bm7               A
like a drum my heart was beating and your kiss was sweet as wine
A7       D                 C#m F#m      Bm7             G   E7
but the joys of love are fleeting for Pierrot and Columbine
The song is successfully covered by, among others, Boney M and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. Tom Springfield, brother of "Dusty" (family names Dion and Mary O'Brien) wrote more hits, ended up in production business and slowly vanished. He's told to be anonymously living in London. Click icon at the bottom of the page for the little information existing.
A major
A
A seventh
A7
E major
E
E seventh
E7
E suspended four
Esus4
D major
D
C sharp minor
C#m
F sharp minor
F#m
B minor seventh
Bm7
Tom Springfield