Send in the Clowns

"Send in the Clowns" is a song by Stephen Sondheim, from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music. It is a slow, mournful ballad, in which the character Desiree reflects on the ironies and disappointments in her life.

Of Stephen Sondheim's more than 800 songs, this is the one that became a megahit. It achieved popularity with recordings by Frank Sinatra, Kenny Rogers, Judy Collins (whose version charted twice on the U.S. pop singles chart in the mid-1970s, reaching a high of #19), and by soulful song stylist Lou Rawls. Sondheim added a verse for a 1985 Barbra Streisand recording of the tune (featured on The Broadway Album, it became a #25 Adult Contemporary hit in 1986).

The song was written for actress Glynis Johns, who had a breathy voice and a limited tessitura—Sondheim wrote the song with short phrases and a small music range (only about an octave). The song is considered a jazz standard, performed famously by Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, and the Stan Kenton Orchestra among others.

The title refers to a phrase reputedly used in a circus when an unforeseen disaster had occurred, with the clowns being sent in to distract the audience from the problem. Alternatively, the title could refer to the practice in vaudeville theatre of sending the clowns on to the stage to distract the audience after a particularly bad act, or to the practice of sending in clowns at a rodeo in order to divert danger from a fallen rodeo cowboy.

Trivia

• Send in the Clowns is the corps song of the Santa Clara Vanguard drum corps. It is played on special occasions by the corps.
• In one episode of The Golden Girls, Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty) remarks that she knew Blanche Devereaux's (Rue McClanahan) brother, Clayton, was gay when she heard him singing in the shower because he was the only man she ever met who knew all the lyrics to "Send in the Clowns."
• The Judy Collins version was used by Howard Stern on WNBC radio in 1984 to "punish the audience" after a stunt did not happen as planned.
• In the Krusty Gets Kancelled episode of the Simpsons, Krusty sings "Send in the Clowns", to mourn his destroyed career, only to have Sideshow Mel suddenly join him, signaling the latter's forgiveness of the former's careless transgressions. This portion was also reprised in the 1998 clip show All Singing, All Dancing.
• Covered by the Tiger Lillies on their album Circus Songs.
• A version was recorded by Bryan Ferry during sessions for his abandoned album Horoscope in 1991 but has not been legitimately released. Some bootleg editions of the album contain the song as the final vocal track.
• The song has been used by actual circuses to signal people backstage of a performer being injured in an act.
• The Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats makes two separate references to "Send in the Clowns". In the episode "King Ten Pin", Phil remarks that a pair of bowling shoes look like clown shoes, and he says, "maybe someone should send in the clowns," to which Lil replied, "don't bother, they're here." Later, an episode was entitled "Send in the Clouds".
• There is an episode of DuckTales entitled Send in the Clones.
• Stars of the Lid recorded a version called "Don't Bother They're Here" for their 2007 album And the Refinement of the Decline.
• Silver Jews have a song titled "Send In The Clouds" on their 1998 album "American Water", which is at least partially about a dog and a robot.
• Grace Jones recorded a disco version as a part of a medley for her debut album "Portfolio" in 1977.
• Tom Robbins refers to the song throughout his book "Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates".
• Nina Simone recorded "Stop" on Fodder on My Wings to express her dislike for "Send in the Clowns".

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