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Carry On (Fun song)

Fun song

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ5046786 ↗
Source-derived summary

"Carry On" is a song by American pop rock band Fun. It was released on October 23, 2012, as the third single off their second album, Some Nights. The song was written by the band members, Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost, Jack Antonoff, alongside the album's producer, Jeff Bhasker.

Composition

"Carry On" has been called "a song about perseverance in hard times", which is supported by a rock-anthem sound written in F major and composed in 128 time. The song begins with Ruess singing with faint vocals, as he confronts a potential suicide. Ruess's quiet vocals are eventually reinforced by a large chorus and band member Jack Antonoff's guitar-playing. The narrator takes refuge in a bar alongside his friends, who begin to contemplate the mortality of the people close to them. Antonoff delivers a short, 20-second "Slash-type wailing" guitar solo, which appears over two and a half minutes into the song.

Live performances

On November 3, 2012, the band was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, with Louis C.K. as host, and performed this song, alongside "Some Nights". They also performed the song at the 2013 Grammy Awards.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Carry On (Fun song)” as fun song. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2012, 2013—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2012-10-23. The account is most persuasive where Carry and song can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as fun song. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5046786. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2012 and 2013.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Carry On (Fun song)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Carry On (Fun song) primary sources, Carry On (Fun song) archive and Carry research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Carry On (Fun song)”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Carry On (Fun song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.