Born in 1989 in Long Island, Rose grew up in Center Moriches, New York. The daughter of two artists, Rose began writing songs and poems at age 13. Rose attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she graduated in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in architecture.
In 2012, Rose and producer/multi-instrumentalist Jer Coons launched a Kickstarter to fund the production of Rose's first album America Religious. The album, blending American folk music, country, and rockabilly styles was self-published later that year. Two years later, Rose released her first nationally distributed album, I Will Not Be Afraid on Little Hi! Records. Like the first album, it was produced with Jer Coons and featured music in a variety of Americana musical styles, including two songs previously released on America Religious.
Following the release of I Will Not Be Afraid, Rose took an extended hiatus from touring and releasing new material, while she explored new musical directions that would broaden her sound. After three years, numerous personnel changes, a signing to mother + Pop Music, and a switch to New West Records, Rose released her third album. The new album, Loner, was co-produced by Rose and Paul Butler of The Bees, and represented a radical shift away from the musical style of her previous work, blending pop and alternative rock elements, and incorporating prominent synthesizers throughout. Notably, this album also saw a change in lyrical tone, incorporating a number of overtly humorous, sarcastic, and satirical songs. Although Rose played most of the instruments on the album, she formed a new band to perform on tour.
Prior to Loner's release, Rose released "Money" and "Soul No. 5" with accompanying music videos. Rose released a music video for "Jeannie Becomes a Mom" on October 17, 2018. The video, which was directed by Amanda Speva, features Abby Pierce as the titular character, depicting Jeannie moving into a new home, performing a dance routine with the movers, and preparing a rainbow Jell-O cake. The song was ranked the fifteenth-best single of the year by National Public Radio.
On January 7, 2020, Rose announced a new album called Superstar, releasing a single and a music video for the song "Feel The Way I Want". The video was shot on an iPhone over the course of an 11-day roadtrip from Hollywood, California to Hollywood, Florida, documenting the protagonist's journey after she travels to the wrong Hollywood for an audition. According to Rose, the album is a "cinematic pop album that tells a story of someone who leaves behind everything she knows and loves in search for something bigger and more glamorous. It's a story about losing yourself but also finding the brazen self-confidence to follow a dream." The album Superstar was released on March 6, 2020, and Caroline Rose made her television debut on February 24, 2020, performing "Feel The Way I Want" on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Tightrope Walker
Caroline Rose Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In this room, you'll find where silence sits
Quiet and remiss
The hiss of the red-hot coals
Listen to the buzz from the telephone poles
On these streets
On these streets, you'll find where reality lives
Put a bit between its teeth
No, it won't be missed
And let it choke on its bile
Let it choke on its spit
In this bed
In this bed is where we lay our sick
Everybody knows there ain't much shade
Beneath the Devil's Walking Stick
So, if you're looking for rest
You ain't gonna find it
Best pop your happiness
Best shoot up your fix
For the tightrope walker
Oh, the tightrope walker
He twirls his baton hand
Shoots his arrow across the sand and says
"Oh, I'll be back again - oh, I'll be back again"
Oh, In his head
In his head you'll find where the four hands tick
The seconds and the minutes
The desire and the trick
Rubbing together both the sticks till the fire gets lit
The clowns all do a dance
The jokers do a jig
Now I'm looking around the room, wondering
"What's wrong with this shit?"
Oh, and the tightrope walker
Oh, and the tightrope walker
And the tightrope walker
Ha, and the tightrope walker
Caroline Rose's song Tightrope Walker is a dark, brooding track that explores the bleak reality of life in modern times. The song is built around a series of vivid images that depict a world that is haunted by the specter of death and despair. The opening lines of the song set the tone for the rest of the track, as Rose sings: "In this room, you'll find where silence sits/Quiet and remiss/The hiss of the red-hot coals/Listen to the buzz from the telephone poles." These lines suggest a sense of isolation and emptiness, as if the singer is trapped in a world that is devoid of hope.
The song then shifts to a more outwardly focused perspective, as Rose sings about "these streets" where "reality lives." Here, she suggests that the world is a place where people try to deny the harsh realities of their existence, "lock[ing] it up, board[ing] it up like it don't exist." The singer is caught in the middle, struggling to find meaning and purpose in a world where everyone else seems content to wallow in their own misery. The chorus of the song introduces the figure of the "tightrope walker," who seems to embody the idea of someone who is able to maintain a precarious balance between hope and despair.
Line by Line Meaning
In this room
This is where silence lies
In this room, you'll find where silence sits
This is where silence lives
Quiet and remiss
All is still and silent
The hiss of the red-hot coals
The only sound is the hiss of hot coals
Listen to the buzz from the telephone poles
The only other sound is the buzz of the telephone poles outside
On these streets
This is where reality exists
On these streets, you'll find where reality lives
This is where the real world is
Lock it up, board it up like it don't exist
Ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist
Put a bit between its teeth
Shut it up and silence it
No, it won't be missed
It won't make a difference if it's silenced
And let it choke on its bile
Let it suffer in its own negativity
Let it choke on its spit
Let it suffer in its own negativity
In this bed
This is where we rest
In this bed is where we lay our sick
This is where we lay our problems
Everybody knows there ain't much shade
There's not much protection or relief
Beneath the Devil's Walking Stick
Beneath the problems and negativity
So, if you're looking for rest
If you want peace
You ain't gonna find it
You won't find it here
Best pop your happiness
Find your own happiness
Best shoot up your fix
Take whatever you need to feel better
For the tightrope walker
For the person who walks on the edge
Oh, the tightrope walker
The person who walks on the edge
He twirls his baton hand
He shows off his skills
Shoots his arrow across the sand and says
He takes his chances and is confident
"Oh, I'll be back again - oh, I'll be back again"
He'll come back and take his chances again
Oh, In his head
In his mind
In his head you'll find where the four hands tick
In his mind, time is ticking away
The seconds and the minutes
Time passing by
The desire and the trick
The temptation and the danger
Rubbing together both the sticks till the fire gets lit
Creating a spark of life
The clowns all do a dance
The people around him act foolishly
The jokers do a jig
The people around him act foolishly
Now I'm looking around the room, wondering
He's observing his surroundings
"What's wrong with this shit?"
"What's wrong with everything?"
Oh, and the tightrope walker
And the person who walks on the edge
Oh, and the tightrope walker
And the person who walks on the edge
And the tightrope walker
And the person who walks on the edge
Ha, and the tightrope walker
And the person who walks on the edge
Contributed by Eli S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.