I had a taste of bitter life   At sweet sixteen   I was growing up too fast   If you know what I mean   Met an older man   Who taught me his own way to live   And all I had to do to keep him   Was to give and give      [Chorus:]   The carousel man   Kept me going around and round   Carousel man always know   That I'd stay around   The carousel man   Wouldn't let me off   His merry-go-round      I followed him around   In traveling shows   Along the main county lines   Watching him drinking his mind away   Not ever knowing my name at time   Each night when the show closed down   He used to tell me of his dreams   He was wearing new French suits   While I mended my torn jeans      [Chorus]      Then one night in Santa Fe   The horses stop going around   There he was my poor rich man   Lying on the Mexico ground   All the sad music of his life   Is still spinning in my mind   The carousel starts up again   And I found my place in life      [Chorus x2]