First, I definitely think that the Cardigans use a Capo on the second fret, And that the key of "Carnival" is E. Basically, if you play "Carnival" in E, you will use the following chords:
Chords ------
1) near the capo
As you can see, the first chord is a strange F#m maybe 7 or 9, I don't Know, but it sounds exactly like in "Carnival". The chords 4,5 and 6 are the bossa-style chords that are so hard to catch On "by my door, waiting for you".
F#m* E Esus2* D#dim Dmaj7* C#m B A
E:-----2+------2------2------0------0------0------2------0------3----- B:-----2+------3------3------3------0------0------3------2------0----- G:-----2+------0------3------2------0------0------4------2------0----- D:-----2+------2------0------0------5------4------4------2------0----- A:-----2+-----(2)-------------------4------3------2------0------2----- E:-----2+-----------------------------------------2------0------3----- ^ ^ Em* D Dsus2* C#dim Cmaj7* Bm A G The ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Capo! are the chords you get without the capo
2) Since I don't have any capo, here are the chords I play
HOW TO USE ALL THESE CHORDS ----------------------------
1st Part --------
F#m* E Carnival came by my town today Esus2* F#m* Bright lights from giant wheels E Fall on the alleyways Esus2* And I'm here D#dim By my door Dmaj7* C#m Wating for you
2nd part --------
F#m* B I will never know E(sus2*?) A Cause you will never show F#m* B Come on and love me now E(sus2*?) A Come on and love me now
F#m* B I will never know E(sus2*?) A Cause you will never show F#m* B Come on and love me now E(sus2*?) A Come on and love me now Dmaj7* Esus2* F#m* Come on and love me now
As 1st part -----------
I hear sounds of lovers Barrel organs, mothers I would like to take you Down there Just to make you mine In a merry-go-round