5 December 1965
The tune is trad. arr. of the Russian folk variety. However, the lyrics of ‘The Carnival Is Over’ are by a Dionysius ‘Dion’ O’Brien trading as Tom Springfield and indeed a brother of Dusty. You’ll recall from my encomium on the magnificent ‘What Have I Done To Deserve This?’ how Mother Springfield was from my home town of Tralee, Co. Kerry, making Dusty and Tom my people. So, we agree the words of ‘The Carnival Is Over’ are beyond reproach.
As for its Australian performers, there’s usually a whiff of folk mass off The Seekers and so it proves with ‘The Carnival Is Over’, which isn’t actually about religion or dying but comes across like that anyway. The marching beat soon turns rigid and restrictive, so despite Judith Durham’s pleasant voice I don’t detect the breezy charm of ‘Georgy Girl’ or the pop ache of ‘I’ll Never Find Another You’, both also written by Tom Springfield. Still, apparently ‘The Carnival Is Over’ was selling almost 100,000 copies a day in the UK at its peak (keeping The Who’s ‘My Generation’ off the UK number one spot) and in the ’60s Irish music scene we’ll subsequently see a genuine folk explosion. Behold the lyrical power of my people.
