Carnival

Written and produced by Natalie Merchant as the lead single from her debut solo album Tigerlily (1995), this song was inspired by her first visit to New York City at age 16, when she was fascinated by the unusual lifestyles of residents coming from rural areas herself. The single reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Merchant's highest-charting solo single in the US, and the video directed by Melodie McDaniel shows Merchant walking the streets of New York City taking photographs with a Leica M3.