Send In The Clowns Song

[Connemmara]

Now I don't like the above song and of course couldn't understand the lyrics until I printed them out - Judy Dench sang it some prom in 2010. Personally I couldn't get any meaning out of the lyrics - what was it all about.

Also on Youtube just came across her and she was practising for it in her bedroom and started to cry now I know actresses can cry at a cue but why in those lyrics - she was capable of singing a better song than that. I just need the song to be explained - when somebody gets time here today. oh Send in the Clowns sob sob

[VHG]

Written by Stephen Sondheim (who also wrote the words for West Side Story and the musical Sweeny Todd amongst others).

Send in the Clowns comes from the musical "A Little Night Music" (where I believe every song is in waltz time).

It is a reflective song sung by an aging actress and "clowns" in the song refers to "fools".

Much more about it in Wikipedia here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Send_in_the_Clowns

[RATTER15]

http://www.songmeanings.net/m/songs/view/3530822107858509322/

[Tilly2]

Maybe she was missing her late husband.

[flipnflap]

"Send in the Clowns" is a song by Stephen Sondheim from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music, an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night. It is a ballad from Act II in which the character Desirée reflects on the ironies and disappointments of her life. Among other things, she looks back on an affair years earlier with the lawyer Fredrik. Meeting him after so long, she finds that he is now in an unconsummated marriage with a much younger woman. Desirée proposes marriage to rescue him from this situation, but he declines, citing his dedication to his bride. Reacting to his rejection, Desirée sings this song. The song is later reprised as a coda after Fredrik's young wife runs away with his son, and Fredrik is finally free to accept Desirée's offer. Sondheim wrote the song specifically for the actress Glynis Johns, who created the role of Desirée on Broadway. The song is structured with four verses and a bridge, and uses a complex compound meter. It became Sondheim's most popular song after Frank Sinatra recorded it in 1973 and Judy Collins' version charted in 1975 and 1977. Subsequently, Sarah Vaughan, Judi Dench, Grace Jones, Barbra Streisand, Shirley Bassey, Zarah Leander, Tiger Lillies, Ray Conniff, Glenn Close, Cher and many other artists have recorded the song, and it became a jazz standard. The "clowns" in the title do not refer to circus clowns. Instead, they symbolize fools, as Sondheim explained in a 1990 interview: "I get a lot of letters over the years asking what the title means and what the song's about; I never thought it would be in any way esoteric. I wanted to use theatrical imagery in the song, because she's an actress, but it's not supposed to be a circus. It's a theater reference meaning "if the show isn't going well, let's send in the clowns"; in other words, "let's do the jokes." I always want to know, when I'm writing a song, what the end is going to be, so "Send in the Clowns" didn't settle in until I got the notion, "Don't bother, they're here", which means that "We are the fools."

[flipnflap]

[Connemmara]

my god flipflap you know your stuff - thanks for that explanation - but still too complicated for me - with my being deaf I just want probably easy listening. I did enjoy Judy (you may or not have seen it) it was a fun thing on youtube singing you are sixteen going or seventeen now that was funny to me. Will read your explanation again later - wee bit early for me to take all that in.

[VHG]

>>>my god flipflap you know your stuff

Oh come on, he just copied it straight word for word from Wikipedia, that I posted a link to in my reply.

[Connemmara]

read some of the links - got some info - perhaps if it was played in a movie/musical etc it would have have had some impact on me - though I doubt it - when you do read what it means it was a sad song -

[flipnflap]

kind of you, connemara, but once you click on VHGs link, you'll see I got all that from Wikipedia...though i did know a fair bit already. i've always loved Judy Collins' version. Never liked Judi Dench's way of talking songs

[Connemmara]

no matter who posted the info thanks - vhg don't be hurt - flipflap - yourtube is not working.

[FredPuli43]

For all Sondheim's explanation about "fools", and not being literally clowns and a circus, he has used a circus expression which is apposite. If some accident occurred; an artist falling off a high wire, for example; the order would go out "Send in the clowns!". The idea was that the clowns would distract the audience from looking and worrying about what had just happened. Thus, metaphorically, the singer would send in the clowns to distract from the disaster of her own life. Then she makes the bitter joke that no clowns are needed because the characters in her disaster are themselves like clowns

[carolegif]

It was written for Glynis Johns who admitted she could not sing and was a heavy smoker. Hence the short phrases (so she could breathe more frequently) and it is more spoken than sung.

[Connemmara]

carole - why do they people who can't sing to sing when there are other beautiful singers out there. beats me

[carolegif]

He wanted her for the role apparently.

[woofgang]

Its just a song...if you like it, you like it and if you don't you don't.....

[Meg888]

I first heard this at Christmas it was on songs from the Musicals. Sarah Vaughan's version which was sang to a crowd in a TV studio (don't know the show) it totally mesmorised me, I'm also deaf so I had the subs on & I just thought she sang it so hauntingly, it was beautiful. I took it to be about a washed up star who once was brilliant and had it all, but was now ageing and not so 'hot' as she'd once been. I loved the version so much I bought her CD, but sadly she didn't sing it the way she had on the show much to my dissapoinment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PI_xb6jSD4