yesterday a child come out to wonder
caught a dragon fly inside a jar

fearful when the sky was full of thunder

and tearful at the falling of a star

and the seasons they go round and round
and the painted ponies go up and down

we're captive on the carousel of time

we can't return we can only look behind from where we came
and go round and round and round in the circle game

six-teen springs and six-teen summers gone now

cart-wheels turn to car-wheels thou' the town

and they tell him take you're time it won't be long now

till you drag your feet to slow the circles down

and the seasons they go round and round
and the painted ponies go up and down

we're captive on the carousel of time

we can't return we can only look behind from where we came

and go round and round and round in the circle game

so the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true

there's be new dreams may be better dreams and plenty

before the last revolving year is through

and the seasons they go round and round
and the painted ponies go up and down

we're captive on the carousel of time

we can't return we can only look behind from where we came
and go round and round and round in the circle game

and go round and round and round in the circle game