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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGHjHU_Z8d8

In a 1994 interview with Mojo, Mitchell said: "I didn't write 'Circle Game' as a children's song, but I'm very pleased to see it go into the culture in that way." While written, and played in concerts, for a few years before she released this song on her "Ladies Of The Canyon" album, it was covered (in 1967) by Buffy Sainte Marie in a more upbeat version, and more similarly to Joni's version by Tom Rush in 1968.

This was partly written in response to Neil Young's song about lost innocence "Sugar Mountain," where Young sings, "You can't be 20 on Sugar Mountain." Mitchell's last verse is a rejoinder of sorts, with the 20-year-old facing diminished dreams but still with plenty of hope. The line "The painted ponies go up and down" gave David Clayton-Thomas the idea for the lyric "Ride a painted pony let the spinnin' wheel spin" in the Blood, Sweat & Tears hit "Spinning Wheel."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cBf0olE9Yc

Here's some background on the song and Joni.

https://musicfor.us/2018/10/15/joni-mitchell-both-sides-now-1969/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic02W1bWeFU

Is good song.

https://hooktube.com/watch?v=f-EKGsrq39E

"On a Carousel" was the Hollies first A-side in which Graham Nash sings lead vocals, although only for the first few lines. Nash would recall that prior to "On a Carousel": "our biggest hits were Graham Gouldman songs...Tony, Allan and I wanted desperately to write a monster A-side...We thought we were good enough writers, we knew the combination, how to come up with a universal theme, the right kind of hook. So we went through a shitload of ideas until inspiration struck. I'm not sure which of the three of us came up with funfairs...We [realized] a love affair was pretty much like going round and round and round on a carousel. And before we knew it the song just took shape. It was all there, the words, the tune, there was no stopping it.

On the making of the song (10.5 mins). In January of 1967, the band was being filmed for a documentary at the very session they recorded "Carousel" at Abbey Road. Next door, in the now-famous Studio Two, the Beatles were putting finishing touches on "Penny Lane." What you hear is the actual recording being made. Note that the digital tech of today didn't exist, and that's largely for the good. It means there's no BS like Autotune, no need to go in and lay down parts over the space of a month or more the way many records are done now. Nope. They did it live then fixed the parts on the spot (or at a subsequent session) with overdubs. I think it makes a difference in the overall feel, one reason some younger acts have gone back to doing live in the studio.

https://hooktube.com/watch?v=BR3xcZ-osqE

"Smile A Little Smile For Me" was a US hit for The Flying Machine, who were a pop band from the UK. The song is a story of a boy (possibly a love interest or a friend) that is telling a girl named Rose Marie that she needs to get over the boy that has left her. Rose Marie is the same girl from Edison Lighthouse's "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" as this was also written by Tony McCaulay, who founded Edison Lighthouse.