"Carousel" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Blink-182 Blink-182 is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Poway, California, in 1992. Its current and best-known line-up consists of bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though its so ...

. It is the opening track on the group's debut studio album, ''

Cheshire Cat The Cheshire Cat ( ) is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll in ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and known for its distinctive mischievous grin. While now most often used in ''Alice''-related contexts, the association of a "Chesh ...

'' (1995). The song originated during the first

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...

between band members guitarist Tom DeLonge and bassist

Mark Hoppus Mark Allan Hoppus (born March 15, 1972) is an American musician and record producer. He is the co-lead vocalist, co-founder, and bassist for the rock band Blink-182 and the only member to appear on every album. Hoppus became interested in ska ...

in August of 1992. The song has been a staple of the band's live performances since their founding. "Carousel" was included on their

demo album Demo, usually short for demonstration (disambiguation), demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than for release *Demo (Behind Crimson Eyes), ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 ...

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

, and was later included as the only non-single on the band's ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

''.

Background

The origins of "Carousel" lie in the first

between guitarist Tom DeLonge and bassist

in August 1992. The two were introduced by Hoppus' sister, Anne, and met in DeLonge's garage. For hours, the two practiced the songs DeLonge had written (collected in a red notebook) and Hoppus' compositions. By the end of the night, the two had formed the basis of "Carousel"; "Instantly, I felt like we had the same musical style; he just had it on a different instrument than me," DeLonge said. The song was first recorded for the band's third demo, which came to be known as ''

'', released in January 1994 and distributed via cassette. The song was recorded once more, in a slightly different arrangement, on the band's debut, ''

'', issued in February 1995. The song remains a staple of the band's live performances, and has become a crowd favorite.Hoppus, 2001. p. 11 "I felt massively enamored with how the kids reacted to erforming the song" DeLonge told ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' in 2013, following the band's show at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg. "I got soaked into their enthusiasm last night, trying to figure out why that song is still around." When asked if he still felt a connection to the song, two decades after its recording, he responded: "It's a love-hate thing. To me, it was a philosophical kind of question: How did we have one of our first songs, if not our first? How do you feel not a part of it? I always feel I wish I wrote better lyrics, yet at the time it was so different for pop-punk. It was, like, so fast."

Music

The song is composed in the key of

D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...

and is set in

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

. DeLonge's vocal range spans from A₃ to G₄. The song "begins with a mid-paced riff and some nice undistorted jangling guitars before smashing into a satisfyingly fast-assed punk song in the vein of

NOFX NOFX () was an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. Bassist/lead vocalist Fat Mike, rhythm guitarist Eric Melvin and drummer Erik Sandin were original founding and longest-serving members of the band, who have appeared on every ...

with some very adept dynamic breakdowns."Shooman, 2010. p. 24

Lyrics

The song is about DeLonge feeling lonely and looking back at his school days nostalgically.

Reception

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

'', in a 2015 top 10 of the band's best songs, ranked it as number five, commenting, "The song may very well have perfected the '90s

pop-punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

formula: unlike the audience, four-chord sugar and the caffeinated heartbeat of

Scott Raynor Scott William Raynor Jr. (born May 23, 1978) is an American musician best known as a founding member and the original drummer of the band Blink-182. Born in Poway, California, Raynor first approached the drums in his preteens; he joined Blink-18 ...

's drum fills never age." In 2016, ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' ranked the song number six on their list of the 10 greatest Blink-182 songs, and in 2022, ''

Kerrang ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'' ranked the song number four on their list of the 20 greatest Blink-182 songs.

References

* *

Notes

External links

* {{authority control Blink-182 songs 1994 songs 1995 songs Songs written by Mark Hoppus Songs written by Tom DeLonge Songs about school Songs about loneliness