Carousel [Live from the 2023 ACM Awards]

Pretty Elaina, my fair lady
She walked the high wire back in the '80s
Feathers and sequins, she shined like a chandelier
Hanging from the top tent rafters 'til the spotlight disappeared

Harlan Giovanni, what a sight to see
The way he earned her trust was on a twenty-foot trapeze
She fell so hard because he always let her fly
'Til he left her heart suspended in a cotton candy sky
She still don't know why

Every show must end, every circus leaves town
You don't know the magic's gone until the lights go down
Now she's back in Nacogdoches and I hear she's doing well
She only misses Harlan when she hears the carousel

Pretty Elaina made herself a nest
Her secrest and her sequins buried in her cedar chest
No one around here knows about her other life
Johnny Davis went and made her a mama and a wife
And maybe that's alright

'Cause every show must end, every circus leaves town
You don't know the magic's gone until the lights go down
Now she's back in Nacogdoches and I hear she's doing well
She only misses Harlan when she hears a carousel

Smith County Fair, mid-September
She walks the midway and smiles when she remembers

Every show must end, every circus leaves town
I didn't know the magic left 'til all the lights went down
Now I'm back in Nacogdoches and I swear I'm doing well
I only miss my Harlan when I hear a carousel
I only miss my Harlan when I hear the carousel