The Tears of a Clown

Track 79 on The 35th Anniversary Collection

Producers

“The Tears of a Clown” was released on the 1967 album Make It Happen The song was written by Smokey Robinson, Hank Cosby, and Stevie Wonder. According to Robinson, Stevie… Read More

Aug. 29, 19671 viewer62.4K views

The Tears of a Clown Lyrics

[Intro]
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah

[Verse 1]
Now if there's a smile on my face
It's only there tryin' to fool the public
But when it comes down to foolin' you
Now, honey, that's quite a different subject
But don't let my glad expression
Give you the wrong impression

[Pre-Chorus]
Really I'm sad
(Sad, sad, sad, sad)
Oh, sadder than sad
(I'm hurt so bad)
You're gone, and I'm hurtin' so bad
(I pretend to be glad)
Like a clown, I pretend to be glad
(Sad, sad, sad, sad)

[Chorus]
Now there's some sad things known to man
But ain't too much sadder than
The tears of a clown
When there's no one around
Mmm-hmm, oh yeah, baby

[Verse 2]
Now if I appear to be carefree
It's only to camouflage my sadness
In order to shield my pride, I’ve tried
To cover this hurt with a show of gladness
But don't let my show convince you
That I've been happy since you

[Pre-Chorus]
Decided to go
(Why did you go?)
Oh, I need you so
(I need you so)
I'm hurt and I want you to know
(Want you to know)
But for others I put on a show
(It's just a show) Ooh-oh

[Chorus]
There's some sad things known to man
But ain't too much sadder than
The tears of a clown
When there's no one around
Oh yeah

[Verse 3]
Just like Pagliacci did (The great pretender)
I try to keep my sadness hid
Smiling in the public eye (The great pretender)
But in my lonely room, I cry

[Chorus]
The tears of a clown
When there's no one around
Oh yeah, baby

[Outro]
Now if there's a smile on my face (Tears of clown)
Don't let my glad expression (Tears of a clown)
Give you the wrong impression
Don't let this smile I wear (Tears of a clown)
Make you think that I don't care
When really I'm sad
Hurtin' so bad (Tears of a clown)
Cryin' all the time...

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About

Genius Annotation

“The Tears of a Clown” was released on the 1967 album Make It Happen The song was written by Smokey Robinson, Hank Cosby, and Stevie Wonder.

According to Robinson, Stevie came to him with the song’s backing track (the same one heard in the recording), and asked him to come up with lyrics. The overall tone of the song reminded Smokey of a circus theme, and as a result, tried to think of circus-themed lyrics. He was reminded of the story of Pagliacci, which he heard when he was a child, and wrote the story around that. However, he wrote the song from the perspective of a person who compares themselves to a/the clown, rather than Pagliacci himself, as to connect more with the listener.

In July 1970, the song was re-released in the UK as a single, where it charted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart. When the song was later released in the US, it not only topped the Billboard Hot 100, but the R&B Singles charts as well. It was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002, and subsequently convinced Smokey to stay another two years before departing from The Miracles.