Poets of the Fall – Echoes of the Carnival – 20 Years, Carnival of Rust

Carnival of Rust is to me what Late Goodbye is to the majority of Poets of the Fall‘s fans: an absolute and undeniable classic. My eyes discovered the incredible creativity of the band before my ears could understand what they were listening to. Since then, I never looked back, despite the doubts and mood swings throwing unapologetic punches at my heart through the years. Carnival of Rust is the song that started it all for me, or rather rekindled a flame I did not know was burning out and, I could never express well enough how grateful I am to Poets of the Fall.

Echoes of the Carnival

Oddly enough, I have never written about Carnival of Rust (the song)…  until the Alexander Theatre Sessions that is… did it pull a heart-string I did not want to recognize? I don’t really know, maybe so. All I know is that Carnival of Rust is one of the albums I wrote the less about. Be that as it may, there is yet so much to explore, that I am glad I did not write that much. It gives me the freedom to do so now, as I am today… with my sensibility and experiences ever since I discovered Poets of the Fall. The goal is to cover the full album by the time the first gig of the Echoes of the Carnival kicks off.

July 3rd 2026 is the first gig – as far as I know – for the Echoes of the Carnival Tour. I have therefore 6 months to cover all 12 songs from Carnival of Rust until then… 2 songs a month, I am already late 😂… I thought I had until September, but then new gig dates popped up for July, which shorten my deadline… If they put a date before July 2026, I’m toast 😂. I won’t complain though. Anyway, I’ll do my best to keep you guys on your toes and prepare for the upcoming shows. For my part: Helsinki at the Allas Sea Pool is on, then I’ll constrain myself to Amsterdam – hopefully – (never been there, so it would be a great opportunity)… Unfortunately, London won’t be a viable option after all (my plans were too costly, I won’t make it)… I still hope for Copenhagen and Paris at some point… Let’s wait and see 😁!

👉 Check the Tour Dates on : Poets of the Fall Tour Dates and hope to see you there.

Heart strings out of a highly emotional song

Carnival of Rust is a love song, a break-up song, a heart wrenching song for anyone who went through a tough and emotional break-up. Yes, it is all that and yet, it is not any of that… or it is both all that and not. This is the absolute magic of Poets of the Fall songs. You take what you need, you feel what you need and grow with it… until you hear and get something else as you grow. The absolute truth of the artist who wrote such a stunning song has nothing to do with you or I… it is all about him, his feelings, his state of mind at the time of creation… But the result… The seeds it sows, that is all about us and how we perceive and experience the song. At that point, the song is not his anymore… it is ours – figuratively speaking of course. The mastery is to convey his emotions through the song to us and making us feel what he does through our own set of references. Now, that is pure genius to me.

Carnival of Rust is one of those songs.

Until now, only two artists managed this for me… and both are Finnish. Marko Saaresto with Poets of the Fall and Tuomas Holopainen with Nightwish. That’s it!

It is not easy to dig within and try to understand why a song such as Carnival of Rust moves me beyond words. Sometimes, I feel… nothing; but it is only because I gag my own emotions. The hurt can be so sharp and unbearable when you don’t pay attention, therefore, I shut down the flow of what makes me… me. Not so much nowadays, as the hurt don’t hurt that much anymore. Some other times, I feel strong, reckless and proud, opening my arms I say: “bring it on!”. I am a mix of my emotinal weaknesses and strengths… Aware of both, I navigate their currents every day, trying not to drown at times, and some other times easily feeling the wind  and ambers in my hair. It can be scary… but so can life be.

Anyway, Carnival of Rust is probably one of the most difficult songs to write about, together with Hello Cabaret. 👉 Read Poets of the Fall, Ghostlight – Yhdeksän, Hello Cabaret

Double-edged lyrics

Carnival of Rust is a love song, that talks of lost-love and longing… to me, this is just the surface, the mask and the main-stream idea. Nothing wrong with that, but to me it goes beyond once you dared scratching the chipped paint on the Zoltar’s face:

“Down behind the gates of darkness dwell
The man in the box, between heaven and hell,
With his broken heart, sings a song of love”
(Carnival of Rust, Live in Moscow 2013 © Poets of the Fall)

Love songs can be anything and about anyone… Self-discovery and growth are a recurring theme in Poets of the Fall albums, so from day one, I chose to look at Carnival of Rust from another angle than the obvious one. I took my own looking glass to dwell on my own wounds and try to heal them the best I could, one note at a time. Dramatic – I know – and probably not on point with what Marko had in mind when he wrote the song, but I know it is ok too.

Who do I turn to when I feel down and uneasy with life, situations and decisions to be made? Am I one of these people who self-sabotage because what they did in the past does not follow their own morality compass? Is my morality compass my own or is it dictated by society’s sets of rules… How will I ever face what I see in other people’s eyes when they look at me as, at the same time, I am dealing with some sort of imposter syndrome. Will I be able to bear the consequences of my actions. Was it… No, enough… I cannot, I will not!

And more than ever, I hope to never fall, where enough is not the same it was before

I’ll leave it at that, as I know that many of you will understand my meaning and feel as I do. Carnival of Rust has layers that dwelve deeper into our hearts, uncovering tiny bits of darkness and unspoken emotions because this or that did – or did not – happen, and the consequences  that followed are in part what our lives became… yet, I would not change a comma for you would not know me as I am today. Carnival of Rust is the song that soothes you and makes you want to howl at the moon simultaneously.

I discovered Carnival of Rust 10 years ago and it still gives me chills.

I wish I had enough courage to finish pealling the layers, but even if I did, I would probably cast them into the fire.

Easter Eggs in Carnival of Rust video

Poets of the Fall, Carnival of Rust video was directed by Stobe Harju and released in 2006. It was then Remastered to add more clarity, details and depth to the video, which helped me take some notes… As the description of the Video continues “It was voted the best Finnish music video of all time.” That is saying a lot! Even cooler, on December 8th 2025, the band announced that Carnival of Rust was voted the 2nd greatest Finnish radio track of all times. It should have been first, but second deserves a STANDING OVATION!!! 👏👏👏

Let’s start with the obvious Easter Eggs in the Carnival of Rust Video…

The entrance with the park’s name Carnival of Rust… logic and neat. The tatoo on the bearded lady Delicious – track 10 on the album. At the end of the video, on the ticket, COR Cordis: Carnival of Rust, but did you know that Cordis meant “of the heart or spirit”? The 4, on that same ticket standing for April… since the album was released on April 12th, 2006. Then you have Drummers of the Past & Present: when Tapio Sutela (first drummer) morphs into Jari Salminen (the current drummer); The Gravity wheel: Gravity being track 5 on the album… I’m sure I forgot many 😁. I love Poets of the Fall breadcrumbs… on each album and often in videos.

Beyond the easter eggs meant for the fans, obviously… what did you say? Nerd?… yeah, that too 😂 You’ll find some other written references in the video. Eight of Cups, Nine of Swords, Nine of Wands, Ace of Wands, Nine of Wands… Poker or Tarot? I have not yet figured those ones out (they must mean something, though I don’t have them in the right order here)… in any case, it is almost like a foreshadowing of what would follow referencing a game, gambling of some sorts. The Star, Strength, Play for food, House of Dusk, Drumming bears (obvious), The high priestess (can’t help thinking of Tiia in Requiem for my Harlequin 😉), The magician…

The one that most caught my attention though was Break for Freedom. Break the plate by throwing the ball, in the ball-throwing game… break the plate, break the mould, throw the ball, take a gamble and jump, nothing is garanteed in life. Nothing is free either, so you need to take some risks to go where you want to go.

What freedom is this though? Why does the girl have a gas mask? Does she have to wear the mask not to be contaminated by the misfits, the oddities, the peculiar ones, when she seems to have an odd artistic fiber herself (ballerina)… don’t try, don’t stray, be normal and therefore be a prisoner of what the norms want you to be, instead of being free to be who you are. Why is she holding a doll? Is this a childhood reference? Childhood dream to be realized? Or is it there to remind her of the teaching from childhood and what it means to be a girl in this society?

So many variants and interesting discussions in the symbolism used by Stobe Harju. This shows also how much my own experience of the song is not as far fetched as I thought after all. Meanings being the meaning… so fun to decipher, no matter the primary intention.

The Playlist

Anyway, I’ll stop here… don’t forget to check out the tour dates on Poets of the Fall official website.

I have made a playlist with all the official versions I found of Carnival of Rust plus one extra from a Finnish TV show I think 😉. There are so many variations on how Marko delivers the lyrics, it is not human to be able to bring so many nuances of emotions into one single song. Yet, I know I experience this every time I see Poets of the Fall live, even if it is from one day to the other… same songs different show, so I should not be so surprised. Writing this makes me so hyped to see them live again in September… yes yes, “long way to go yet, precious“, I know! So what! I’m hyped anyway, deal with it 😁.

Five gorgeous versions of Carnival of Rust.

Thank you for stopping by folks ❤️

Take care and see you soon

Claire