Carousel (Blink-182 song)
"Carousel" | |
---|---|
pop punk | |
Length | 3:15 |
Label | Cargo Music/Grilled Cheese |
Songwriter(s) | |
Producer(s) |
|
"Carousel" is a song by American rock band Blink-182. It is the opening track on the group's debut studio album, Cheshire Cat (1995). The song originated during the first jam session between band members guitarist Tom DeLonge and bassist Mark Hoppus in August of 1992.
The song has been a staple of the band's live performances since their founding. "Carousel" was included on their
Background
The origins of "Carousel" lie in the first jam session between guitarist Tom DeLonge and bassist Mark Hoppus in August 1992.[2] The two were introduced by Hoppus' sister, Anne, and met in DeLonge's garage. For hours, the two practiced the songs DeLonge had written (collected in a red notebook) and Hoppus' compositions.[3] By the end of the night, the two had formed the basis of "Carousel"; "Instantly, I felt like we had the same musical style; he just had it on a different instrument than me," DeLonge said.[3] The song was first recorded for the band's third demo, which came to be known as Buddha, released in January 1994 and distributed via cassette. The song was recorded once more, in a slightly different arrangement, on the band's debut, Cheshire Cat, issued in February 1995.[4]
The song remains a staple of the band's live performances, and has become a crowd favorite.[3] "I felt massively enamored with how the kids reacted to [performing the song]," DeLonge told Rolling Stone in 2013, following the band's show at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg. "I got soaked into their enthusiasm last night, trying to figure out why that song is still around."[2] When asked if he still felt a connection to the song, two decades after its recording, he responded: "It's a love-hate thing. To me, it was a philosophical kind of question: How did we have one of our first songs, if not our first? How do you feel not a part of it? I always feel I wish I wrote better lyrics, yet at the time it was so different for pop-punk. It was, like, so fast."[2]
Music
The song is composed in the
Lyrics
The song is about DeLonge feeling lonely and looking back at his school days nostalgically.[6]
Reception
References
- Hoppus, Anne (October 1, 2001). Blink-182: Tales from Beneath Your Mom. ISBN 0-7434-2207-4.
- Shooman, Joe (June 24, 2010). Blink-182: The Bands, The Breakdown & The Return. Independent Music Press. ISBN 978-1-906191-10-8.
Notes
- ^ "blink-182: Next Steps". Apple Music.
- ^ a b c Doyle, Patrick (September 13, 2013). "Q&A: Blink-182 on Their Next Album and Keeping Their Bathroom Humor". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
- ^ a b c Hoppus, 2001. p. 11
- ^ a b Shooman, 2010. p. 24
- ^ "Blink-182 Carousel - Guitar Tab". Music Notes. EMI Music Publishing. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
- ^ "Carousel by blink-182". Songfacts.
- Consequence of Sound. Archived from the originalon February 14, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
- ^ Trewn, Pranav (September 26, 2016). "The 10 Best Blink-182 Songs". Stereogum. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
- ^ Law, Sam (January 12, 2022). "The 20 greatest blink-182 songs – ranked". Kerrang. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
External links
- "Carousel" live in 2013 on YouTube