The Carnival Is Over

"The Carnival Is Over", written by Tom Springfield, for the Australian folk pop group the Seekers is based on a Russian folk song from circa 1883, adapted with original English-language lyrics. The song became the Seekers' signature recording, and the band have customarily closed their concerts with it ever since its success in late-1965.

"The Carnival Is Over"
Netherlands single picture sleeve
Single by the Seekers
B-side"We Shall Not Be Moved"
Released1965 (1965)
GenreFolk rock, baroque pop
Length3:06
LabelColumbia[1]
Composer(s)from Russian folk music
Lyricist(s)Tom Springfield[1]
Producer(s)Tom Springfield[1]
The Seekers singles chronology
"A World of Our Own"
(1965)		 "The Carnival Is Over"
(1965)		 "Someday One Day"
(1966)
Official audio
"The Carnival Is Over (Stereo) (2009 Remaster)" on YouTube

At its 1965 sales peak, the Seekers' single was selling 93,000 copies per day in the UK with sales of at least 1.41 million copies in the UK alone.[2] The single spent three weeks at No.1 in the UK Singles Chart in November and December 1965.[3]

The song also topped the Australian charts (for six weeks, from 4 December 1965),[4] and reached No.1 in the Irish Charts for two weeks.

The Music

The Carnival is Over was the third hit single written for The Seekers by Tom Springfield, following the success of I'll Never Find Another You (1964) and A World of Our Own (1965).

Stenka Razin
Razin throws his Persian lover overboard.
A 1681 illustration to Jean Struys' book

The main tune of The Carnival is Over is adapted from a Russian song about the Cossack ataman Stenka Razin which became popular in Russia in the 1890s.[5] The original poem of "Stenka Razin" was written in 1883 by the poet and Povolzhye region ethnographer Dmitry Sadovnikov. The text of this poem, with minor changes, was set to the music of a popular Russian folk melody[6] by an unknown author.[7]

It told about an episode of the 1670–1671 Russian Peasant Uprising in which Razin allegedly killed his captive, a beautiful Persian Princess whom he had just married. Razin throws the Princess into the Volga river from his boat, in a gesture addressed to his disgruntled jealous comrades who accuse him of "mellowing down" after just one night spent with a woman.[8]

Score:[9]

The song also gave the title to the famous 1938 Soviet musical comedy Volga-Volga. It was performed by the Osipov State Russian Folk Orchestra (balalaikas and domras) during their 1967 tour of Australia. It is played in a bar scene in Prague in the 1988 film The Unbearable Lightness of Being[10].

The American folk singer Pete Seeger wrote an English language version of Stenka Razin called River of My Country in the 1950s. This song was included in his album Love Songs for Friends and Foes (1956). The lyrics were not a translation of the Russian song, but were newly composed by Seeger himself, while maintaining the motif of the river.[11]

The lyrics compare the lovers to the perpetually unhappy Commedia dell'arte characters: "But the joys of love are fleeting/For Pierrot and Columbine"[12]

The Seekers version

Tom Springfield was introduced to Stenka Razin at the Joint Services School for Linguists during his National Service (1952-54). The school was known as “the Russian course”, and its purpose was to train conscripts in intelligence techniques. Springfield joined the school’s Russian choir, and they sang Stenka Razin together (in Russian) as part of the course.[13] His decision to base his third song for The Seekers on the haunting Russian melody proved to be "a gold mine".[1]

Springfield adapted the folk song melody[1] in two significant ways. He altered the time signature from 3/4 to 4/4, and he added a chorus, allowing him to expand the Song structure to AABABA from the simple AAA structure of the original.

Early in 1965, Springfield travelled to Brazil, where he witnessed the Carnival in Rio. This provided the basis for his new lyrics, including the Commedia del'arte characters Pierrot and Columbine, who feature in the chorus. The "Carnival" depicts "the joys of love" experienced by Pierrot and Columbine - when they have to part, the carnival is over.[14]

Boney M. version
"The Carnival Is Over"
Germany single picture sleeve
Single by Boney M.
A-side"Going Back West" (double A-side)
ReleasedJune 1982 (1982-06)
Recorded1982
GenrePop, Euro disco
Length4:45
LabelHansa (Germany)
Composer(s)from Russian folk music
Lyricist(s)Tom Springfield
Producer(s)Frank Farian
Boney M. singles chronology
"Little Drummer Boy" / "6 Years of Boney M. Hits"
(1981)		 "The Carnival Is Over" / "Going Back West"
(1982)		 "Zion's Daughter"
(1982)

"The Carnival Is Over (Goodbye True Lover)" / "Going Back West" is a double A-side single by German band Boney M. It replaced a cancelled third single release of a re-recording of the song "Jimmy" from the group's fifth studio album Boonoonoonoos. "The Carnival Is Over" was the first single release after dancer Bobby Farrell's departure and introduced new male singer Reggie Tsiboe in the line-up. Despite reaching No.11 in the Swiss charts, the single was widely considered Boney M.'s first flop. After a string of 16 consecutive Top 20 singles in Germany, the single only climbed to No.41 after a second pressing with a remix of "Going Back West" as the main A-side was sent out. "Going Back West", however, would become a hit single in South Africa where the group's popularity remained high in the early 1980s. Boney M. would use the double A-side format in this period, typically with the A1 being the song intended for radio and A2 being more squarely aimed at discos. The sides would usually be switched on the accompanying 12-inch single.

The Carnival Is Over (Goodbye True Lover)

Boney M.'s version of the Seekers' song was done in a low-key ballad arrangement and featured Liz Mitchell on lead vocal. An original verse by producer Frank Farian and lyricist Catherine Courage was added to introduce Reggie Tsiboe as a vocalist. In the early mix of the single, Liz Mitchell sings the answer-back line "Kiss me again" as opposed to the final mix where she sings "Our love is true". Edit were released in the UK and Japan where a part of the intro had been cut out. "The Carnival Is Over" was never included in any studio album by Boney M. and didn't appear on a compilation until 2000 when it was included on 25 Jaar Na Daddy Cool. The single edit was added as a bonus track to the remastered 2007 edition of Ten Thousand Lightyears.

Going Back West

The first song with new member Reggie Tsiboe on lead vocals was an uptempo cover version of a Jimmy Cliff track. An early mix had only vocal group La Mama (Cathy Bartney, Patricia Shockley, Madeleine Davis) on backing vocals. Several later mixes were released with Liz Mitchell's vocals added to the backing vocals and also producer Frank Farian singing a couple of lines. The 12-inch version was coupled with an edit of the track "Silly Confusion" from Boonoonoonoos.

Boney M Releases

7-inch singles

  • "The Carnival Is Over (Goodbye True Lover)" – 4:49 / "Going Back West" (Early mix) – 4:05 (Hansa 104 475–100, Germany)
  • "Going Back West" (Remix) – 4:15 / "The Carnival Is Over" – 4:49 (Hansa 104 475–100, Germany)
  • "The Carnival Is Over (Goodbye True Lover)" (UK edit) – 4:00 / "Going Back West" (Remix) – 4:15 (Atlantic A 9973, UK)
  • "Going Back West" (Remix) – 4:15 / "The Carnival Is Over" (Japan edit) – 4:20 (Atlantic P-1693, Japan)

12-inch singles

  • A1 "Going Back West" – 5:00 / A2 "Silly Confusion" (Farian, Kawohl, Björklund, Baierl, Courage) – 4:05 / B "The Carnival Is Over" – 4:52 (Hansa 600 633–213, Germany)

Nick Cave version

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds covered the Seekers' version of "The Carnival is Over" on their 1986 album "Kicking Against The Pricks". This was the third album released by the Australian rock band. Remarking on the song selection on the Album, Cave said:

Some songs had just kind of haunted my childhood, like "The Carnival is Over", which I always loved.[15]

References
  1. Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 97. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  2. Ami Sedghi (4 November 2012). "UK's million-selling singles: the full list". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  3. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 185. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. "Australia's No.1 Hits of the 1960's". Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  5. "Russian Folk Songs. Notes and Lyrics". Russianplanet.ru. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  6. Rozanov, Ivan. From Book to Folklore. How poems become folk songs. Literaturny Kritik. No.4, 1935 // От книги в фольклор. Какие стихи становятся популярной песней. // "Литературный критик 4 (1935). pp. 2–3.
  7. alternative titles in Russian: "Iz-za ostrova na strezhen" (Из-за острова на стрежень, "From Behind the Island to the Midstream") or "Volga, Volga mat' rodnaya" (Волга, Волга, мать родная, "Volga, Volga, Dear Mother")
  8. Позади их слышен ропот / "Нас на бабу променял, / Только ночь с ней провожался, / Сам на утро бабой стал".
  9. "Archived copy". a-pesni.golosa.info. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. at 42min
  11. "Songfacts 206. The Seekers". Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  12. Cashman, Richard I. (30 August 2006). The Bitter-sweet Awakening: The Legacy of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Walla Walla Press. ISBN 9781876718909 – via Google Books.
  13. "Tom Springfield's Cossack connection FT 14 June 2013". Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  14. "Every UK Number 1 - Tom Springfield". Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  15. Tracee Hutchison (1992). Your Name's On The Door. Sydney: ABC Enterprises. p. 115. ISBN 0-7333-0115-0.
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