Hollies – On a Carousel

A good pop song by the Hollies. They were known mostly for their harmonies but they were a good band…they had a great guitar player and drummer. Tony Hicks is never mentioned much with the guitar players with the other British Invasion bands but he could hold his own with the others. Bobby Elliot was/is a drummer’s drummer.

The Hollies had great harmonies and also a secret weapon in Tony Hicks as a guitar player. He was and still is outstanding but was never as well known as his later neighbor George Harrison and his other peers.

Tony’s son Paul Hicks was in Dhani Harrison’s band and has worked with Giles Martin on Beatle remastering projects. I have a soft spot for the Hollies. They started in the early sixties and continued through the seventies without Graham Nash who quit the Hollies for what he thought was a hipper band…Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Soon to include the elusive Neil Young.

The song peaked at #11 on the Billboard 100, #7 in Canada, and #4 in the UK in 1967. I included a short video of The Hollies recording the song. While they were recording this The Beatles were in the next studio recording as they both recorded at EMI Studios.

Just a little trivia… The earliest known record of a carousel is a Byzantine etching from 500 AD which shows riders swinging in baskets tied to a central pole.

Graham Nash: We really hit the mark when it came to our next record. Tony, Allan, and I wanted desperately to write a monster A-side. So far, our biggest hits were Graham Gouldman songs, and, hey, you take ’em where you can get ’em. But we thought we were good enough writers to land the big fish. We knew the combination, how to come up with a universal theme, the right type of hook. So we went through a shitload of ideas until inspiration struck. I’m not sure which of the three of us came up with fun fairs. We had all been to them as kids: pulling ducks out of the water, a ring around a bottleneck, winning goldfish. We thought a love affair was pretty much like going round and round and round on a carousel. And before we knew it, the song just took shape. It was all there—the words, the tune, there was no stopping it. And Tony and Bobby wrapped it in an exceptional arrangement.

You ask me, “On a Carousel” was one of the Hollies’ best songs. It’s a pop song with an infectious chorus but flirts with gorgeous shifts in rhythmic texture. The transition to “Horses chasing ’cause they’re racing / So near yet so far-r-r-r-r” features a hook that keeps the melody from becoming predictable. Tony’s barb-like accents that echo the phrase “on a carousel” demonstrate his subtle virtuosity. And the lyric captures the essence of young love without the usual moon-and-June clichés. We knew it was a hit from the get-go.

On A Carousel

Riding along on a carousel, trying to catch up to you
Riding along on a carousel, will I catch up to you?

Horses chasing ’cause they’re racing
So they ain’t so far

On a carousel
On a carousel

Nearer and nearer by changing horses,
Still so far away
People fighting for their places just get in my way
Soon you’ll leave and then I’ll lose you
Still we’re going ’round

On a carousel
On a carousel
‘Round and round and round and round
round and round and round and round with you
Up, down, up, down, up, down, too

As she leaves, she drops the presents that she won before
Pulling ducks out of the water, got the highest score
Now’s my chance and I must take it, a case of do-or-die

On a carousel
On a carousel
‘Round and ’round and ’round and ’round
‘Round and ’round and ’round and ’round with you
Up, down, up, down, up, down, too

Riding along on a carousel, trying to catch up to you
Riding along on a carousel, will I catch up to you?

Now we take our ride together
No more chasing her

On a carousel
On a carousel
On a carousel
On a carousel
On a carousel

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

37 thoughts on “Hollies – On a Carousel”

  3. they put out some good ones and get lost in the shuffle when talking about ’60s music I think. I didn’t know they had such close ties to the Beatles… didn’t one of the Moody Blues also live next to George? What a time to be in London.

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    1. Yes I think they did…I think Denny Laine also lived near him when he was in the Moody Blues. Personally I think the best time and place to be a music fan…something new and exciting coming out everyday.

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  4. Ever-presents on our charts through the 60s early 70s. I liked most songs, they are fine pop/harmonies. Sounds like Hicks was an unsung hero- hold on, he sang back-up… sheesh , ya know what I mean.
    I really like/liked ‘Dear Eloise’ very hippy and echoey. To my minds recollection they faded a bit around ‘Long Cool Woman.’

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    1. Hicks was a secret weapon for them…I never realized how good he was until I read Nash’s book and started to see for myself.
      I think The Air That I Breathe was their last bit hit.

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  5. I’m as guilty as anyone for letting their music pass me by … not that I don’t listen to them, I do very much like them. But I think they were like fixtures on the radio as I grew up and I’ve learned just to ‘accept’ them – in nice way, I mean. I think they were just cast in the shadows (no pun intended) of a couple other giants of the music scene of the time.
    (Gonna have to dig out their Greatest Hits CD tonight, now. 😀 )

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    1. I just listened to it…I like their voices but don’t like that they substituted a synth for his cool guitar lick…but with the 80s…it doesn’t surprise me.

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      1. When it came out, I remember thinking to myself “I’ve heard this before but, something is off.” My dad finally pointed out that it was a remake. “A-Ha! Now I know why it is so familiar!” Um…duh.

        I love synths in a song. I know you prefer a raw sound. If done well, synths add texture and depth…to me, anyway. I am also fond of a wa-wa pedal with a guitar.

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      2. No not a raw sound…a real sound…. but I can take some…this one is better than others. My biggest problem with synths is this… I’m fine if it colors a song…kinda fills it in…but not when it leads the songs…and fake drums…ARGGGGG.

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  8. I’m totally with you, my friend. The Hollies had some bloody catchy songs, and their harmony was outstanding. I had completely forgotten about “On a Carousel,” perhaps not the first song that comes to mind when thinking about the Hollies but a solid song nevertheless!

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    1. He is so dang good on guitar…very underrated.
      This one is really good…I also like King Midas in Reverse…a flowerly song they did during the summer of love.

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  9. Very difficult to pick a top song from The Hollies as they have so many of them. This one could be my favorite. Love that little bit of a capella at the end of the first video. You really can’t beat Graham’s voice, and Hicks yes. The changes that just keep coming on this song makes it truly magical.

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      3. Max, THANK YOU for thinking of me. Yes I did want to see it, and that says more about Olivia than anything else I ever knew about her. Really want to see Friar Park. Is it open to the public, do you know?

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      1. I was in a record store once and the owner was extolling the virtues of Evolution and Butterfly. I guess I might try those sometime.

        They sort of feel like their own tier – cooler than Dave Clark 5 and Herman’s Hermits, less cool than The Beatles and Stones.

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