Hi everybody! I won't try to give my own meaning of the video / lyrics since I am still confused about it (though I have some ideas), but I searched for the meanings of the tarot cards we can see in the video. They all come from the same website. I classified the cards according to their order of appearance in the video. Upright/Dignified-Reverse is about how the card is turned (I don't know anything about Tarot but I think this is it). And the blue parts of the lyrics when we see the cards. Hope this helps!

* The Star *
Upright - Fresh hope and renewal. Healing of old wounds. Hope. renewal of faith and hope. Spiritual love. A mental and physical broadening of horizons. Promise and fulfillment. inspiration. Influence over others. Vigor and confidence. Protection.
Dignified or Reversed - Self doubt. Stubbornness. Unwillingness or inability to adapt to changing circumstances and accept the opportunities it may bring. Lack of trust and self-doubt. Obstacles to happiness. Diminished life. Inability to freely express oneself. Rigidity of mind.
D’you breathe the name of your savior in your hour of need?

* 9 Swords *
Upright - Deception, premonitions and bad dreams, suffering and depression, cruelty, disappointment violence, loss and scandal. All of these may be overcome through faith and calculated inaction. This is the card of the martyr and with it comes new life out of suffering.
Dignified or Reversed - Distrust and suspicion, despair, misery and malice. Total isolation away from comfort and help. Institutionalisation, suicide, imprisonment and isolation.
Come feed the rain

* High Priestess *
Upright - Intuition, wisdom and secret knowledge, the feminine side of the male personality. Something remains yet to be revealed, but patience must be observed. Duality and mystery. Hidden influences affect both home and work and intuitive insight suggests new solutions. The influence of women.
Dignified or Reversed - Lack of personal harmony and problems resulting from a lack of foresight. Suppression of the feminine or intuitive side of the personality. Facile and surface knowledge. repression and ignorance of true facts and feelings. In women, an inability to come to terms with other women or themselves. Things and circumstances are not what they seem.
‘Cause without your love my life ain’t nothing but this carnival of rust

* Eight of Cups *
Upright - A turning point, a severing of links with the past, which have become outdated. A turning away from established relationships and objects of affection, to facilitate progress to newer and deeper things. A change of perspective a change of viewpoint. .Security.and.attachment
Dignified or Reversed - Abandonment of that which has been well founded in order to pursue an impossible ideal. Fantasy and risk. Restlessness and recklessness.
Come feed the rain

* 9 Wands *
Dignified or Reversed - Lack or inability to give and take. Projects pursued that are destined to fail because of their impractical nature. Delays and disarray. Card could indicate possible poor or ill health. A secure position that is no longer. Personality flaws.
Carnival of rust… Yeah feed the rain

* Ace of Wands *
Upright - An exciting new project or career. The essence of fire, creativity, inventiveness, ambition and enthusiasm. The aggressive pursuit of new ventures. Foundations for future success, intuition, conception, fertility, artistic innovation and manhood.
Dignified or Reversed - Bareness, impotence, sterility, avarice, greed. An over confidence that ends in tears. In a woman's spread this card may indicate trouble with men.
Carnival of rust…

* The Magician *
Upright - Mastery of the material world, creative action, self discipline and a willingness to take risks. An ability to recognize one's own potential, the power to initiate, communication and wit.
Dignified or Reversed - Confusion, hesitation, inability to make decisive choices. Inability to properly utilize time or talents. Lack of inspiration or energy. Giving up easily, poor self image, poor co-ordination and sometimes learning difficulties.
Don’t walk away…

* Strength *
Upright - Courage. Self control. The virtue of Fortitude. The power of love. Control of passion against one's baser instincts. Determination. Generosity. Strength and power under control. Energy. Optimism. Generosity, resolve and reconciliation.
Dignified or Reversed - Power wrongly used. Defeat. Lack of willpower. Feelings of inadequacy. Pessimism. Surrender to unworthy impulses. Tyranny. Concession. Inability to act.
When the world is burning…

* Ace of Cups*
Dignified or Reversed - The card is symbolic of changes for the worst, possibly a time of barrenness, which can be either of a physical or mental nature. Failure of love, stagnation, despair and possibly loss of faith.
When the heart is yearning…


Then 9 swords and The Star again.

Wow. Excellent tarot reading. We had one a couple of years back, but this one was more advanced. Thanks, Maydaycall!

I also noticed there was already a new topic about this last year :coughcough: Oh I fail so much

hey i didn't know this topic's running again, and it's got cool speculation it's fun to read them all

you still trying to "solve tha riddle"? how cute

You scoff at analysis? How condescending.

i just think it's open-ended story and while you can catch some extended meaning of certain moments, they don't form full picture. it serves the purpose - to attract viewer and return for watching again. but i have a version too - the video is the last dream of an old woman before she dies alone, the characters are her memories of all mistakes she did in her life, spent 3 coins (should remind you of greed) and carnival is closing. maybe it's about Mark's grandma that passed away, who knows? this shows the viewers to enrich their life, to have much more to remember in the end than dark and dreadful freak show.

this is i agree with. this is what makes potf so special. every songs can be "adapted/ported" to every listener's hearts. but of course someone are curious about what it really mean for the band. the people who created them.

reno says show me proof
am i obliged to, now? i showed you enough i think - that i have a little imagination (which you expressed doubt in earlier), and if you could read what else i fantasized but didn't post here....ohhh cut that
video simply serves a purpose as a backdrop for song (song that has, what, 12 lines of text? being so short it's bound to be obscure); it's dark and haunting. i'm not paying attention to tarot cards, be it my mistake or not.
why old dying lady? because the woman in video has no face and all surroundings reflect in her gasmask like images of past before the eyes of human close to death; she looks almost like ghost, black dress shows her mourning and readiness to join her loved one - who she obviously doesn't find among other characters of the video.
i think they chose carnival theme because their 1st song Late Goodbye appeared in game that had a similar abandoned scene so they wanted to explore it further. we can find other songs with similarities on 1st and 2nd album but i'll have to leave it for later.
p. s. i'm not condescending you, nor forcing to believe me.

The woman in the video is not old; on the contrary, she is very young, seemingly barely out of childhood--hence the point shoes, the lollipop, and the doll. I actually use the video in my classroom (I am teaching it tomorrow, as a matter of fact) in conjunction with Romeo and Juliet--but the world she is stuck in is old, and toxic. It's seductive, but ultimately a dead end. She's trying to escape it. It's definitely reminiscent of MP2, but the video doesn't explicitly refer to that. MP2 was how I discovered the Poets in the first place. There's probably a similar dynamic in the art, the way you can spot the work of any unique artist.

I don't find your argument condescending at all--quite the contrary, I find it quite fun. You're clearly intelligent and passionate on the topic of the video we both love. It was only your initial sarcasm that I found condescending, but you seem to have gotten beyond that attitude in our discussion.

Actually, Ben, your thesis is kind of growing on me. There is certainly a ring of finality and death about the imagery. Your interpretation has an appealing darkness.

yes my metaphor doesn't make her old automatically. quite possible she's really young; just the rusty carnival implies an old and abandoned place she visits by accident, unprepared (hence the lollipop - a symbol of carelessness), the foggy surroundings help associate the place with graveyard. it may very well refer to an unfortunate event other than death - maybe as simple as nightmare inspired by break-up with her lover (or even less - his cell-phone was switched off).

does it matter how many time i watched this video? very few times, five or six is a good estimation. earlier i wanted to compare to other songs and the next song on album (Locking up the sun) also works in the context of COR video; it deals with uncertainty, travel into unknown and separation from "savior". i'll spare you literal examples of lyrical connections, this topic may be not very suitable for that.

Hi, It's my first post.
I have recently been introduced to Poets through one of my friends and i kind of got obsessed with COR's video.I have read through the thread and after reading your posts specially reno's great comment i grasped some kind of new meaning for the video,so here it is:

First the place of love in the world
1- I think the one singing represents a person,anyone male or female, in the song and in the video carnival is that person*, it is slowly rusting and approaching the moment of being killed(death obviously) which i will get more into later.The whole song is about how life is not that much fun and isn't worth living for but like i think some famous writer said:
love doesn't make the world go round but it makes it worthwhile.
well since life has to have ironies the same love(rain,which in actual world gives life to barren land) feed the rust that is eating away at the man.

*I think the song has a couple of layers in another layer it could mean the whole actual world

Second the properties of that love
2- Well as i mentioned the carnival is a person and the puppet is the heart of that person and by that i mean the source of his/her feelings love,greed,faith his/her soul if you prefer or who he/she really is,t is starting to torn apart and does not get your attention though.The girl does see(or maybe she just doesn't)the heart yearning for love but does not care for who he really is she just wants to have fun so she reaches for his more attractive parts(well,if the love is the lustful adult love it could be his/her special parts if you know what i mean .)
Then she breaks(heart maybe)for freedom,gets a token(the doll) reminding her of the carnival and starts to leave,at first she holds the token in her armes tightly(one may say dearly)but as soon as she leaves the carnival ,the person's life, it goes back to rotting slowly and very soon she is barely hanging on to the memory of that person(the doll).

Anyway i hope i am not reaching too far for meanings but i think it makes sense.I have some thoughts about particular elements in the video but i need time to organize them.
I think i should apologize for my english as well so there it is.

Hi, Pooyan,

Thanks for the shout out! It's really nice to know someone is reading about POTF and the COR video especially. Not long after that last series of posts I reconnected with Stobe Harju, the director of the video. I was wondering, based on something a student asked me, if the setting was at all influenced by Chernobyl, and Stobe said, not really, it's more like Coney Island in the 1930s (So maybe there's Marko's grandmother after all, Ben!) I thought your comment was quite insightful, Pooyan, and you touched on the universality of the experiences of love and death, which of course is one of the things Ben and I also were in agreement about. I think one of the things that makes COR so appealing is that mythical quality that anyone can relate to--the longing and feeling trapped, the desire to break for freedom, but missing and mourning for the things you leave behind. Anyone who's been on either side of a painful breakup can relate to this video.

I hope to see you more around the forum, Pooyan! there's a lot of fun stuff and great people here all the time. Enjoy!

Personally, I think this song is easy to understand. It's about the will and strength to move on from one part of your life to another, to let go and move on. The tarot cards support this, especially in the context of the video. And the 'Break for Freedom' booth which is obviously a play at breaking the plates, and breaking away (from what holds you back.)

In a way, it can fit life and death, but in the context of the video, I think the Fortune Teller is a representation of the life (maybe the love) the woman is leaving behind to start anew. She has to walk away from him to 'break for freedom', and she is hesitant (there is a part where life or having to choose is driving her crazy, the spiraling down reflected in the mask's eyeshields), then she steels here resolve and breaks the plates, for freedom.

The Carnival of Rust, however, is the life of the Fortune Teller (as the man in booth issued the trot spread, so the man also pushed her into this new life, unresolved conflicts that forced a situation of stagnation or change), it's her breaking from him, and both of them have to find the will, strength, resolve to move on. It is their story.


The Tarot Spread (My reading of it...)
The Star (reversed) - Unwillingness to break away from the current situation. (She is taking a hard look at the man she loves (loved?), represented by the Fortune Teller. The possibility of moving on.)

Nine of Swords - The fear of what's to come. Should I stay or should I go? If I go... what will happen? (Silent contemplation as she looks at her life, the man in the booth.)

High Priestess - The moment of decision, a place where you have a choice... and you must choose, as the High Priestess essentially represents putting off a decision that needs to be made. (She looks at the Break for Freedom booth, hesitantly.)

Eight of Cups - Waking up, sobering up, fianlly seeing the situation for what it is. Understanding the situation and knowing what must be done. (She chooses and walks towards the Break for Freedom booth, and begins to do so.)

Nine of Wands - Going for the goal. The resolve to make the change and then to actually change (for good). (She breaks the plates, making the Break for Freedom.)

Ace of Wands - Freedom. A change, new life, new job, new lover, but a change. (The doll in this case, represents something new, not exactly a child, but something to hold onto during the change. A comfort.)

The Magician - The will to follow the path that was chosen. (She walks away, in a steady and measured step, resolved to follow the course she has made.)

Strength - This one is tricky, it is a strength formed by two parts, a taming of trouble. It can be taken several ways, but the most likely is that the man in the booth is accepting (but not at all liking) their split, and that his acceptance of her leaving helps her on her chosen course of action. However, it can also represent that she has found another lover and found strength is this new lover... but I think the first reason is more plausable in this case... (Remember that she turns to look back, the comforting doll hangs down by an arm, she still loves the man in the box.)

Ace of Cups - The more you give, the more you get. The more love or positivity you project, the more you recieve. (She hesitated and looked back, offering a kindness she did not have to.)

Nine of Swords - It can also be understood as 'waking up' to the current situation, seeing what is really there and facing it. (She realizes for much he loved her, she is his heart of hearts, and no matter how bad the situation was... maybe they can fix it for the best.)

The Star - The Star also represents hope of something better... if you choose to work for it. (She turned to look back, as it becomes obvious that he loves her dearly... and it would not be a stretch to think that this is hope not of something better somewhere else... but that she turned back before it was too late and they resolved their differences and renewed their love.)

A perfect read!

My interpretation is kinda similar to most of yours. It goes like this.
The carnival of rust is Marko's heart. This woman enters, but she's blind (due to the mask). So she doesn't know what is good and what is bad! Then she listens to Marko for a while, but only after putting some change. The change is the key to his heart. As Marko delves into the chorus, she starts getting distracted. She observes everything else, everything apart from Markolino. Here, I feel the red lollipop can signify his heart. She was holding on to it till now, and she dumps it in the musicians' box. That's when the lyric gets emotional. The lyric is in perfect synchronicity with this interpretation!
Now, she goes to the 'Break for Freedom' guy. And she takes the ball, and smashes Marko's heart over and over and over again. At the same time, the paint on Marko's face starts cracking, implying that he is losing his mind. He also starts singing with much more desperation. You can feel it in his voice. Finally, she gets a doll from the 'Break for Freedom' guy. Here, 'Break for Freedom' actually means a chance to break for freedom from Marko.
At the end even though she takes the doll, it falls down, implying that didn't work out either.
She looks back. Marko is dead. And she gets the receipt for 'Cor Cordis', which means 'Heart of hearts'. Marko's was the only heart that truly loves her, which is why it was THE heart of all hearts.
Another pun here, 'Cor' in 'Cor Cordis' can mean CarnivalOfRust. That's why I love the Poets so freaking much! There're puns everywhere!
Watch the video once with my interpretation. The lyric will perfectly match!

i see desperation, pain, longiness and greed in it.. the girl excites dead marko..gives him a little hope..sees something shiny, leaves him, deserts everything she has just to reach for it(implicated by givin food in here)..he hopes for return but all she does is disappoint him..leavin him more dead than ever..from the box a sllip comes spellin cor cordis which means heart in greek if m correct...he lost his heart...i think this is what the video means..who knows i might be wrong...a secret of an artist dies with him..only us are left to interpret it but never find the true meaning..thats life!!