R.E.M. - Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars) Lyrics

They look so young and impudent.

i love bill berry. without him, i wouldnt have this track, which stopped my suicide attempt at the last damn second 12 years back. favorite track. one of the reasons im still breathing. cheers.

we need you here, bro.

I had this on cassette but it sounded different. Love R.E.M

Finest and so much fun to dance to!

REM formed in 1981

When the guitar kicked in it reminded me of Fire in Cairo by the Cure. :)

this track stopped me from commiting suicide once. only thought of it once more after that, then i thought of this song and dropped the knife, smiling. best track ever.

If you knew REM in those early days it was like you were a member of a secret society. You saw Chronic Town in their collection and you just knew, this guy was okay.

And white people from the south have no culture. Right.

that calliope intro was so pathetic it really summed up this band completely

The first time you hear this you sit there frozen with eyes wide open when its done...and think...I am the luckiest man alive and I have to tell the world about this song!

Beautiful:)

How did they invent this sound ?? and they had the guts to put it out there for everyone to hear They did not care what anyone thought, This is our music !!

I went back for this EP once I'd had Murmur fully digested. I remember being on pins and needles driving to the record store, hoping that the single copy of Chronic Town they had was still on the shelf. Thank goodness it was and i bought it. Those early REM records means as much to me now as they did back then, only now a bit of nostalgia is involved.

This is one of the best r.e.m. Songs

wolves lower, gardening at night and carnival of sorts on chronic town
pilgrimage, sitting still and radio free on murmur
so central rain, pretty persuasion and seven chinese bros on reckoning
life and how to live it, gravitys pull driver 8 on fables
i believe, cuyahoga and begin the begin on paegeant
heron house, finest worksong and one i love on document

let the debate begin...

Rem sucks but this song kicks fucking ass😎

Man member when they played at the Holfheinze Pavilion in the U of H,there was a thunderstorm outside also remembered Peter Buck’s red shirt,back in 87 or 88 🤪

This whole EP fucking kicks.

REM is God spelled different. Right On !!

jjcreator.blogspot.com

don't get caught

secret stigma diminished stranger

REM was awesome. They went downhill after Stipe, etc. left Athens for Los Angeles. Their Southern Gothic vibe is what made them special. They kinda lost that when they went Hollywood.

And now they love NYC...

free concert at Rutgers

Again, unnecessary long dead space at the end, ignoramus. Thank you very little...

Loved REMs early stuff !!!!!!!

37 years later, and this is still awesome. But one of these days I gotta figure out what the hell Micheal is saying.

This album is epic. Preview of comming attractions...tripped out early 80s.

*not a note of droning, ethereally creepy church-organ music to be heard constantly throughout this song.............*

I really feel this is one of the classics everybody should know. holy shit this is a perfect song and definitely one of their best

There's a secret, stigma, reaping wheel
Diminish, a carnival of sorts
Chronic town, poster torn, reaping wheel
Stranger, stranger to these parts
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
There's a secret, stigma, reaping wheel
Diminish, a carnival of sorts
Chronic town, poster torn, reaping wheel
Stranger, stranger
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Cages under, cages under, cages under cage
Cages under, cages under, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
There's a secret, stigma, reaping wheel
Stranger, stranger to these parts
Chronic town, poster torn, reaping wheel
Diminish, stranger
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Boxcars are pulling, carnival of sorts
Out of town, out of town

There's a secret, stigma, reaping wheel
Diminish, a carnival of sorts
Chronic town, poster torn, reaping wheel
Stranger, stranger to these parts
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
There's a secret, stigma, reaping wheel
Diminish, a carnival of sorts
Chronic town, poster torn, reaping wheel
Stranger, stranger
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Cages under, cages under, cages under cage
Cages under, cages under, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
There's a secret, stigma, reaping wheel
Stranger, stranger to these parts
Chronic town, poster torn, reaping wheel
Diminish, stranger
Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage
Gentlemen don't get caught
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Box cars are pulling out of town
Boxcars are pulling, carnival of sorts
Out of town, out of town

Thank you

those were the days

Gardening at night is.......beautiful with carnival !

hahaha, finally after 20+ years since WXB departed from the airways this early REM song was really a mystery... so happy i finally got it... goosebumps ..hahaha

Saw them at 6 Flags over Georgia right about then. Free concert. Still my favorite REM album (or EP).

This one & the Cure's "Fire in Cairo" always remind me of each other. Love them both!

Oh, and I couldn’t remember what well known song this reminds me of! I knew it was The Cure though, and now I hear it clearly. Thank you!

Pouce vers le haut si tu es là grâce à ton professeur de physique/info !!!!!!!!!!!!

Then again,maybe it is on one side(the gargoyle). Haven't played it for some time(no turntable anymore).

I have this but minus the gargoyle,just a photo of the band.

★★★★★

The official indie band of the American South

Along with the b 52s both are out of the same area

was it Georgia?

Athens, Georgia

One of their best songs

right out of th gate this band had a sound all their own, distinctly American and equal to the greatest to ever record.

they would not waver til document

Blast from the past....

goosebumps, i agree

magical, it's like when music was invented. I'd love to go back and hear this for this first time. I'm so jealous of those who hear this for the first time.

I am now! :-)

Just listened for the first time and I didn't like it.

jjcreator.blogspot.com

played this on my tape deck while walking through the winery and jazz festival

About my favorite song by R.E.M. and one of the best songs ever.

I used to listen to this song while playing ultima underworld.I think the album was called philadelphia.It had white tornado and maps and legends.

I have this EP,bought it around 84 or 85. Maybe it was the pitch of the turntable, but mine played at a slightly slower tempo. At any rate,thanks.

REM should have quit after this EP, they'd never come close again but it's a pretty damn awesome EP, they coulda held their heads up. Boxcars, yow. So good.

Scott Watkins or Welcome to the Occupation

they stayed solidly at this peak level thru LrichP

Welcome to the Occupation is BRILLIANT!

If they would have quit, look at all the music we would have lost. Losing My Religion, What If We Give It Away, Ignoreland, the whole Document album. The image you have of them is real, but their development was crucial.

The fucking energy of this song is unreal!

I LOVE!!!!!!

goosebumps. still.

great song just found out about it today

+Trev Mac that's awesome! enjoy!

Love that goddamn intro

The guitar work is fantastic.

@Brent Jatko It sounds like some distorted carnival music then a guitar.

ENERGY !!!

top 3 REM records:
1. chronic town
2. reckoning
3. murmur

Lidia Olejnik

Document
Fables
Hi-Fi

Wholeheartedly agreed. I was an 80s music fanatic and these 3 albums hold special sway in my heart. Nothing since comes close to matching their early brilliance

reckoning with reckoning

Pretty persuasion on acid ..

Yes, but not in that order.

i feel an orange crush:) we are ancients of the free:)

this song is about being gay. Gentleman don't get caught. I thank you. my wisdom for your eyes to see.

cages under cage. basically you will get castigated, punished for it so its easier to keep it under cage/hat.

all art is defined uniquely by th individual.beholder.your issues are your issues- thanx for sharing.

I thought it was about boxcars

In my younger life I lived in Providence RI and had the pleasure to watch the band at the living room on a few Saturday nights. I still remember the rumble, the feeling, hearing this, their first song played with such passion. I first listened to it on WBRU and experienced such reward to sit and listen to the band who at that point was just was a wandering Ga band trying to make its mark. I Loved REM then in their broken jeans,simple rockers with a soul

Ray Jackman great

I was at that show too. I believe the cover was 5 bucks!

@PD I am sure Jon Kincaid was there

Plenty of tours in providence in the early 80s:

http://www.remtimeline.com

love this song so gladf my mum got me the best of rem album for christmas in 1996

This is one of many great R.E.M songs - my other favorites are: WE WALK, Wolves Lower, Pretty persuasion, SITTING STILL, Laughing, Harbor Coat, Maps and Legends, Green Grow Rushes Grow, I BELIEVE, What if we give it away, Begin the Begin, Ages of You, Exhuming McCarthy, Finest Working, Texarkana, Turn you inside out, Stand, Man on the moon, EVERYBODY HURTS, IMITATION OF LIFE and Stumble

R.E.M. is similar to Pavement for me in that as they became better on their instruments, the music somehow got worse. The charm was in their sloppiness.

Jason McGathey I can see that, but i respectfully disagree.

Jason McGathey The prime difference being Pavement was never this good.

Bucks early guitar work is hardly easy, and Mills bass has always been freakin awesome... need to be a player to recognize that

The musicianship of R E M has always been so underrated.Just because you can be a technical virtuoso doesn't mean you make good,let alone great music. I can think of many solo musicians and bands that are super proficient and yet so boring musically.

Jason: Never saw it as "sloppiness", but rather "fierce energy . . ." DJ

just like the pages of a favorite book

BNIKevin999 funny you should say that. Like a passage from on the road.

 I miss this REM

@Robbieire77 Or any R.E.M. at this point.

Robbieire77 I don't miss the post Berry REM, save the Accelerate album

I miss R.E.M. in general

this is where my #REM  journey began #beginthebegin  

OMG this raw edit is pure REM magic!! The newer versions of Carnival I have on several live and IRS discs will never sound the same again...

I love this version so much that I had to listen to it for hours on end... thanks for sharing! :D

Nicolas Vollmer It's not a "raw edit", it's just the original version from Chronic Town.

Agree, it's the best one.

THIS EP AND FIRST TWO RECORDS BY FAR BEST REM WORK BEFORE RECORD COMPANY OVER PRODUCED AND POLISHED THE MUSIC AND MADE MICHAEL STIPE ENUNCIATE THE VOCALS

before they began recording digitally.

cHRONIC tOWN IS THEIR BEST WORK

anothercountyheard Indeed.

i like how the caps lock being accidentally on for this comment makes it look like vaguely like the spongebob bulging eyes meme

I thought is was their ending

this is the best version on youtube! this is the original...

goosebumps everywhere

These early REM songs are truly incredible.

boston is good too.

sorry to disagreed with you but this is their best LP

Tune. So glad someone put this up.

@seriussam101 better than a lot of their subsequent LPs too.

Come on guys. This is a great song but murmur was awesome. Let's not exaggerate which is the best record.

All toes up on this one, my brain feels sooo good every time I play this

Let's see, hyperbolic ... hum

hy·per·bol·ic
   [hahy-per-bol-ik] Show IPA

adjective
1.
having the nature of hyperbole; exaggerated.

2.
using hyperbole; exaggerating.

3.
Mathematics .

Not to be hyperbolic, but this may have been the greatest debut EP ever. I honestly can't think of a better one.

seriussam101 maybe not better or worse than chronic town, but the first Doors record is better than the rest of their catalog.

seriussam101 The Smiths is better. Joy Division Decades is better.

This is up there though.

@Vincent Sander Roxy music is pretty good too

@WhiteWolfWinter It's kind of like how I think The Smashing Pumpkins "Gish" is a thousand times better than The Smashing Pumpkins "Siamese Dream."

@nicholsjoshua15 I agree.

Chronic Town is better than Murmurer, that's all I have to say.

Love this soooooo much!! Thank you so much for posting. I MUST get this album (on vinyl of course).

thanx for upload!

greatest recorded demo ever!

bill berry most excellent drums

this is a nice song, and EP