Miranda Lambert spotlighted a breathtaking ballad from her latest full-length project. The award-winning powerhouse delivered an intimate performance of “Carousel,” which she deemed one of her favorite songs that she’s written as it had its moment on the 58th annual ACM Awards stage on Thursday night (May 11). Ascended on a platform and surrounded by fog, Lambert sang in front of a carousel set piece:
“Pretty Elaina, my fair lady/ She walked the high wire back in the '80s/ Feathers and sequins, she shined like a chandelier/ Hanging from the top tent rafters/ ’Til the spotlight disappeared/ Harlan Giovanni, what a sight to see/ The way he earned her trust was on a 20 foot trapeze/ She fell so hard because he always let her fly/ ’Til he left her heart suspended in a cotton candy sky/ She still don't know why/ Every show must end, every circus leaves town/ You don't know the magic's gone until the lights go down/ Now she's back in Nacogdoches/ And I hear she's doing well/ She only misses Harlan when she hears a carousel”
Lambert released her 15-track album, Palomino, last April. She co-produced it and co-wrote 14 of the 15 tracks, apart from a Mick Jagger cover. Lambert said during an exclusive iHeartCountry LIVE show at her Nashville bar last year that she hopes the finished album feels like “freedom,” and inspires listeners to “get in your car and drive. If you have a gypsy spirit, just go do it.”