: Like many iconic ballads of the era, it begins as a soft piano-driven track before transitioning into a soaring, high-energy chorus backed by the full band's hard rock sound.

Released in , " Carrie " is the definitive power ballad by the Swedish hard rock band Europe . It served as the third international single from their multi-platinum album The Final Countdown and remains their highest-charting hit in the United States, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Musical Composition

: It opens with a delicate, synth-heavy keyboard melody that sets a melancholic and introspective tone.

: The lyrics describe a narrator realizing that things have changed and that he must say goodbye, despite the sorrow and longing involved.

While Europe's other massive hit, "The Final Countdown," was an anthem of triumph and space travel, "Carrie" deals with the grounded, universal pain of a :