The Dangling Participles embrace change and find a new direction on “Carousel.”
“Sometimes, when we try to make changes in our lives, we feel stuck, helpless,” said Tamiko May about the Lansing band’s new indie-folk single.
“‘Carousel’ explores this idea of how—consciously or unconsciously—we sometimes find ourselves going ‘round and round’ in circles, in a pattern that doesn’t allow for change.”
Backed by contemplative instrumentation, May sings, “Face the fear of losing out / On some dream that’s preprepared / I’m not used to loose reins / And I’m feeling kind of scared / To leave the organ music and / The brass sleeves behind / As we gallop towards a future / That we ourselves define.”
“I wrote ‘Carousel’ a month after my mom died in 2023,” said May, who also plays ukulele on the song. “I had just joined an online songwriting community and had been given a prompt word, which was supposed to be the focus for writing a new song. However, the ‘Carousel’ song kept nudging me to come back to it, and I wasn’t able to focus on the ‘prompt’ song until ‘Carousel’ was finished.”
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