[Verse] In the daylight it's just an ordinary town And we wander through its ruins with our heads bowed down Past the half-shuttered windows of the tourist cafes And the chains and the chains and the chains But when the sun goes down A whisper rises in the air There are people like us gathering everywhere All are lost and have been found Under the chains and the chains and the chains In the Carnival of Shadows Carnival of Shadows The Carnival of Shadows [Pre-Chorus] People like us and people not like us [Chorus] In the Carnival of Shadows Carnival of Shadows The Carnival of Shadows In the Carnival of Shadows Carnival of Shadows The Carnival of Shadows [Verse 2] Through the smoke, we see the painted lights return Every corner hides a mask that waits its turn Drums of laughter beat beneath the cobblestone And the chains and the chains and the chains The air tastes sweet with secrets never told The night grows young as the fires grow old There are faces we know and names we’ve burned Under the chains and the chains and the chains All the broken now wear their crowns In the Carnival of Shadows Carnival of Shadows The Carnival of Shadows [Pre-Chorus] People like us and people not like us [Chorus] In the Carnival of Shadows Carnival of Shadows The Carnival of Shadows In the Carnival of Shadows Carnival of Shadows The Carnival of Shadows [Instrumental] [Bridge] The masks are melting beneath the flame Names forgotten, yet still the same A serpent’s waltz through lantern glow Where sinners kneel and dreamers go Voices hum beneath the veil Silver dust and shadowed tale The laughter fades to softer cries The moonlight burns in empty eyes And round we go, through dusk and doubt The Carnival never lets you out [Chorus] In the Carnival of Shadows Carnival of Shadows The Carnival of Shadows In the Carnival of Shadows Carnival of Shadows The Carnival of Shadows [Outro] The ferris wheel turns, though no one rides The calliope moans as the silence hides The banners hang torn, red on black The whispers call, but none look back Footprints vanish in the dust of dreams Only the echo of old routines The lanterns flicker, the fog rolls in The laughter fades beneath the din The world forgets, the night recalls Each name that danced within these walls And still the gates creak open wide For all who wander on the darker side
