carousel and fairground pop

oh man...I love this stuff

The Hollies-On a Carousel
Count Five-Merry Go-Round
The Merry-Go-Round-Come Ride, Come Ride

"Carousel" by lots of people. Two songs: either the Richard Rogers or Jaques Brel song. The BMX Bandits do a pretty good fairgroundy version of the latter but there is probably better ones out there.

freddie cannon - palisades park
ohio players - love rollercoaster

bikini kill - carny (or whatever it's called, on their first EP and only good record)

Todd Rundgren, "Were You There When the Carousel Burned Down," fairly creepy song in my memory though I haven't heard it for decades.

blue magic - sideshow
leon russel - tightrope

(though i suppose those are more circus-related, maybe)

in the creepyish category, and also maybe more circus-related, but since we're sort of going there anyway:

leo sayer (or three dog night, "the show must go on"
kinks, "death of a clown"

magnetic fields, "strange powers"

the garbage & the flowers 'carousel' (maybe not pop, but certainly giddy)

'Carousel' - An obvious creepy one from Siouxsie & the Banshees, who used to be pop, at least.

You clamber up
And look behind
Their watchful eyes
The helping hands
A hen that's fierce
And painted blue
With red eyes
Wants to swallow you

A dragon dives and soars on tracks
The hands that strap you to its back
You turn around and look behind
Their smiling eyes
Won't help you down

Their tiny hands
Their tiny feet
Such little hearts
To miss a beat

Grotesque dwarves in mirrored rooms
Pulled and taut -- a thousand yous
Staring back through stinging tears
Remembering those funhouse thrills

The paintbox tunes and wild balloons
Their watchful eyes -- you start to swoon
Oh painted vile in lurid hue
The snarling horse that waits for you

Its motor whirrs and colours curl
Inside your head the monsters whirl
Its motor whirrs and colours curl
Inside your head the monsters whirl

In sucked out
Time stood still
Roundabout back
Carousel
Time stood still
And you remember it well
Carousel

Byrds, "Renaissance Fair" (and maybe "Gathering Of Tribes" too)

Wild Man Fischer "Merry Go Round"

Michael Jackson - 'Carousel' (demo)

The Smiths - "Rusholme Ruffians"

chuck:
Bikini Kill "Carinval" lyrics:

This is a song about the seedy underbelly of the carnival
The part that only the kids know about
This is a song about 16 year old girls giving carnies head
for free rides and hits of pot

I wanna go, I wanna go
I wanna go to the carnival
But it cots $16 yeah
I wanna go to the carnival
But I know it costs $16 now

Round, round, round...
Ill win that Motley Crue mirror,
if it fucking kills me
Gonna lose $20 while I'm there
See the girls with the feathered hair
They're wearing plastic, not real leather
Boots that go way up to there

Round, round, round...
It's by the Lacey mall,
That's where you'll find me, yeah.

Yes, Kathleen Hannah used to write "unreliable narrator" songs before her days as the spokeslady for a generation or whatevs.

BEING FOR THE BENEFIT OF MR. KITE!!!!

The theme tune from LWT's "Tales of the Unexpected".
The comedy-romo middle bit in the Mobiles 'Drowning In Berlin'.
and how about...."Eleven Executioners" by our dear friend El Momus.

some songs from david essex's all the fun of the fair should qualify, i'm sure - just don't remember them by title...

Three Dog Night, "The Show Must Go On"

Cher, "Carousel Man"

Simply Red, "Fairground"