[Intro] Step right up, the tent is leaning One red bulb keeps disagreeing [Verse 1] Painted grin on a paper moon Tinny bell says the show starts soon Mud on my cuffs, ticket in my teeth A wooden horse turns slow underneath The barker’s coat has a missing sleeve He asks what I came here to believe I say, “Just looking,” he says, “That’s fine” Then hands me a mask with my face in the design [Chorus] Roll through the midway, crooked and loud Laugh with the freaks in the thunderhead crowd Hands in the air when the big top bends We came for the scare and we leave as friends [Verse 2] A prize wheel clicks like a jaw gone loose Glass-eyed dolls in a row of booths The mirror maze gives me back someone else Same chipped front tooth, same ring on the belt The clown at the gate tips his hat real slow Says, “You know this place better than you know” I walk through the canvas, the cold wind bites And hear my own laugh from the ride behind [Chorus] Roll through the midway, crooked and loud Laugh with the freaks in the thunderhead crowd Hands in the air when the big top bends We came for the scare and we leave as friends [Bridge] No map, no name, no clean way out Just boot heels stamping and a crowd that shouts The calliope wheezes, the ropes draw tight We turn that fear into a Friday night [Final Chorus] Roll through the midway, crooked and loud Laugh with the freaks in the thunderhead crowd Hands in the air when the big top bends We came for the scare and we leave as friends [Outro] The red bulb dies, the tent folds down Still hear that barker outside of town
