I had a taste of bitter life
  At sweet sixteen
  I was growing up too fast
  If you know what I mean
  Met an older man
  Who taught me his own way to live
  And all I had to do to keep him
  Was to give and give
  
  CHORUS:
  The carousel man
  Kept me going around and round
  Carousel man always know
  That I'd stay around
  The carousel man
  Wouldn't let me off his merry-go-round
  
  I followed him around in traveling shows
  Along the main county lines
  Watching him drinking his mind away
  Not ever knowing my name at time
  Each night when the show closed down
  He used to tell me of his dreams
  He was wearing new French suits
  While I mended my torn jeans
  
  Chorus
  
  Then one night in Santa Fe
  The horses stop going around
  There he was my poor rich man
  Lying on the Mexico ground
  All the sad music of his life
  Is still spinning in my mind
  The carousel starts up again
  And I found my place in life
  
  Chorus x 2