Tom Waits' "Circus" from his album "Real Gone" has found its way to his new "Glitter and Gold Live" album - I think the guy understands (heck, if Tom don't, nobody do):

We put up our tent on a dark
Green knoll, outside of town by
The train tracks and a seagull dump
Topping the bill was Horse Face Ethel
And her 'Marvellous Pigs In Satin'

We pounded our stakes in the ground
All powder brown
And the branches spread like scary
Fingers reaching
We were in a pasture outside Kankakee

And One Eyed Myra, the queen of
The galley who trained the
Ostrich and the camels
She looked at me squinty with her
One good eye in a Roy Orbison
T-shirt as she bottle fed
An orangutan named Tripod

And then there was
Yodeling Elaine the
Queen of the air who wore a
Dollar sign medallion and she
Had a tiny bubble of spittle
Around her nostril and a
Little rusty tear, for she had
Lassoed and lost another
Tipsy sailor

And over in
The burnt yellow tent
By the frozen tractor, the
Music was like electric sugar
And Zuzu Bolin played
'Stavin' Chain' and Mighty
Tiny on the saw and he
Threw his head back with a
Mouth full of gold teeth
And they played 'Lopsided heart'
And 'Moon over Dog Street'

And by the time they played "Moanin Low"
I was soakin' wet and wild eyed
And Doctor Bliss slipped me a
Preparation and I fell asleep with
'Livery Stable Blues' in my ear

And me and Molley Hoey drank
Pruno and Koolaid and she had a
Tattoo gun made out of a cassette
Motor and a guitar string and
She soaked a hanky in 3 Roses
And rubbed it on the spot
And drew a rickety heart and
A bent arrow and it hurt like hell

And Funeral Wells spun
Poodle Murphy on the target
As he threw his hardware,
Only once in Sheboygan did he miss
At a matinee on Diamond Pier and
She'd never let him forget it

They were doing two shows and she
Had a high fever and he took
Off a piece of her ear and
Tip Little told her she should
Leave the bum
But Poodle said, "He fetched me
Last time I run."
But I'd like to hammer this ring into a bullet
And I wish I had some whiskey and a gun
My dear

HMMM Horse face Ethel???? I think I dated her once, she kept munching on oat cakes at the drive in movie hahaha

Tom Waits is totally AMAZING!!!! Even more so live!!!! A lot of his songs make referance to carnival/circus life. In fact his song "Table top Joe" is about Johnny Eck!

Here is another carnival song...... Dusty Old Fairgrounds by the one and only Bob Dylan

Enjoy!!!!

Rod http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxC6PyietZs

It's a really interesting piece to listen to; Waits delivery adds an entire other dimension.

Here's a link to Waits' piece: http://songza.fm/~y8mhti

"she had a
Tattoo gun made out of a cassette
Motor and a guitar string"

So, "she" spent time in prison, obviously.

Waits has several songs on circus and carny. You can find all his lyrics here:
http://www.tomwaitslibrary.com/lyrics-by-songs.html