The Carnival Is Over

"The Carnival Is Over" is a song written by Tom Springfield, for the Australian folk pop group the Seekers. It is based on a Russian folk song from circa 1883, adapted with original English-language lyrics. The song became the Seekers' signature recording, and the band have customarily closed their concerts with it ever since its success in late-1965. At its 1965 sales peak, the Seekers' single was selling 93,000 copies per day in the UK with sales of at least 1.41 million copies in the UK alone. It also stopped The Who from getting to No.1 with "My Generation". The single spent three weeks at No.1 in the UK Singles Chart in November and December 1965. The song also topped the Australian charts (for six weeks, from 4 December 1965), and reached No.1 in the Irish Charts for two weeks. The music "The Carnival is Over" was the third hit single written for The Seekers by Tom Springfield, following the success of "I'll Never Find Another You" (1964) and "A World of Our Own" (1965).