Featuring: The Miracles
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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.
Really I'm sad,
(Sad, sad, sad, sad.)
I'm sadder than sad.
(I 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.)
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-hmmm.
Oh, yeah, baby.
Now if I appear to be carefree,
It's only to camouflage my sadness.
In order to shield my pride I try,
To cover this hurt with a show of gladness.
But don't let my show convince you,
That I've been happy since you
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.)
Hoo-ooo-ooo-oh-a.
[ Find more Lyrics at www.mp3lyrics.org/K9xG ]
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, oh, yeah.
Just like Pagliacci [ 4 ] did,
I try to keep my sadness hid.
Smiling in the public eyes,
But in my lonely room I cry.
The tears of a clown,
When there's no one around.
Oh, yeah, baby.
Now if there's a smile upon my face,
Don't let my glad expression,
(Tears of a clown.)
[ Fade. ]
Give you the wrong impression.
Don't let this smile that I wear,
Make you think that I don't care.
Really I'm sad...
[ THE TEARS OF A CLOWN ]
[ Written by: Henry Cosby, Stevie Wonder & William "Smokey" Robinson
Performed by: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles [ 1 ] -1967
Appears on: Make it Happen-1967 [ 2 ] , The Tears of a Clown-1970, The 35th
Anniversary Collection-1994, Anthology-1995, The Best of Smokey Robinson &
the Miracles-1995, The Ultimate Collection-1998, The Live Collection-2004,
R&B Favorites (Various Artists)-2008 [ 3 ] , et al. ]
[ 1 ] Covered by: Bassix, The Beat, Breeze, The Chosen Few, Petula Clark, The
English Beat, Enuff Z'nuff, Nnenna Freelon, LaToya Jackson, Jive Bunny and
the Mastermixers, The London Symphony Orchestra, The Miracles, The Merton
Parkas, Smokey Robinson, Special Beat, Becky Spencer, Stardust Piano &
Symphony Orchestra, et al. ]
[ 2 ] One of the biggest mistakes by the notoriously hit-conscious Motown
organization, was failing to release "Tears of a Clown" as a single in
1967. It became hit on British radio in 1970, three years after it first
appeared. It shot to the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic,
and prompted Motown to re-release the album, Make It Happen, under a new
title, The Tears of a Clown. ]
[ 3 ] Transcribed from the track on this album. ]
[ 4 ] Pagliacci is an opera written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo in
1893. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband. The main character's
name is Pagliacci, which means clown. (Its name is sometimes incorrectly
rendered as I Pagliacci with a definite article.) ] |
