[Distorted carnival calliope, slowed down, warped. A voice, echoing:]
"Round and round and round and round. Up and down and up and down. Scream and scream and scream and…"
[Beat drops. Heavy. Circular. Relentless.]
[VERSE 1]
THE CAROUSEL SPINS. THE CAROUSEL SPINS.
GET ON. GET OFF. GET ON AGAIN.
THE HORSES ARE MADE OF BONE AND WIRE.
THE MUSIC IS MADE OF A DYING CHILD'S CHOIR.
I GRAB A RING. I GRAB A POLE.
I GRAB THE PART OF ME THAT STILL HAS A SOUL.
THE CAROUSEL SAYS "NOT FOR LONG.
EVERY SOUL LEARNS TO SING MY SONG."
[HOOK]
PSYCHO CAROUSEL! ROUND AND ROUND!
UP AND DOWN! LOSE THE CROWN!
PSYCHO CAROUSEL! HOLD ON TIGHT!
THE RIDE NEVER ENDS. THE RIDE NEVER ENDS TONIGHT.
[VERSE 2]
I RODE THIS RIDE WHEN I WAS YOUNG.
BEFORE MY TEETH. BEFORE MY TONGUE
LEARNED THE WORDS. LEARNED THE SCREAM.
LEARNED THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DREAM AND DREAM.
THE CAROUSEL SAID "YOU'LL BE FINE.
JUST HOLD THE POLE. JUST HOLD THE LINE.
JUST KEEP SPINNING. JUST KEEP GOING.
JUST KEEP PRETENDING YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU KNOW."
I HELD. I HELD. I HELD SO TIGHT.
I HELD THROUGH THE DAY. I HELD THROUGH THE NIGHT.
I HELD THROUGH THE YEARS. I HELD THROUGH THE PAIN.
I HELD UNTIL I COULDN'T REMEMBER MY NAME.
[BRIDGE]
[Tempo slows. Spinning down. The Maw's voice, hypnotic:]
"You ever ride a carousel so long you forget you're on it? You ever spin so fast the world becomes a blur and the blur becomes the world and you can't remember what it felt like to stand still? To be still? To be anything but motion?"
[The calliope creeps back in. Warped. Wrong.]
"That's the trick. That's the ride. You don't get off. You just… forget you were ever on."
[Beat slams back. Faster.]
[VERSE 3]
I'M STILL SPINNING. I'M STILL HERE.
I'M STILL PRETENDING I DON'T FEAR
THE MOMENT IT STOPS. THE MOMENT I SEE
WHAT I BECAME. WHAT THE RIDE MADE ME.
A HORSE. A POLE. A RING. A SCREAM.
A PIECE OF THE CAROUSEL'S MACHINE.
I DON'T RIDE IT. IT RIDES ME.
I DON'T SPIN. I'M SPUN. I'M FREE
OF NOTHING. I'M CHAINED TO THE CENTER.
I'M THE ONE WHO TELLS THE RENTER
"STEP RIGHT UP. IT'S FUN. IT'S SAFE."
IT'S NOT. IT NEVER WAS. IT'S JUST THE SHAPE
OF A THING THAT WANTS TO SPIN FOREVER.
AND YOU'RE ON IT NOW. AND YOU'LL NEVER
GET OFF. GET OUT. GET FREE.
THE CAROUSEL IS ME. THE CAROUSEL IS ME.
[BREAKDOWN]
[Heavy. Crushing. Spoken:]
"Round and round and round and round."
[Screamed:]
ROUND AND ROUND AND ROUND AND ROUND!
UP AND DOWN AND UP AND DOWN!
SCREAM AND SCREAM AND SCREAM AND—
THE RIDE DOESN'T STOP.
THE RIDE DOESN'T STOP.
THE RIDE DOESN'T—
[FINAL HOOK]
[Faster. Desperate.]
PSYCHO CAROUSEL! ROUND AND ROUND!
UP AND DOWN! LOSE THE CROWN!
PSYCHO CAROUSEL! HOLD ON TIGHT!
THE RIDE NEVER ENDS. THE RIDE NEVER ENDS.
THE RIDE NEVER ENDS. THE RIDE NEVER ENDS.
THE RIDE NEVER ENDS TONIGHT.
[OUTRO]
[The calliope winds down. Slower.
A single voice, small, lost:]
"…did it stop?"
[A long pause. The calliope starts again. Slow. Inevitable. The Maw's voice, quiet:]
"It never stops. It just… pretends.”
AsheTheHyena
