Natalie Merchant - Carnival Lyrics Meaning

The songwriter was born and raised in Jamestown New York, and first visited New York City as a teenager. She had no frame of reference for the things she saw here, and likened the city to the carnivals she attended as a child, peopled by actors and containing a madhouse assortment of characters.
Returning as an adult, she realizes that her initial reaction was false, that her perception was colored by her lack of experience, and that the city is actually a place where people live, work, and aspire to their dreams, whatever they may be.