Send in the Clowns  

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"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's 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 famous artists have recorded the song, and it became a jazz standard.

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Recordings

The song occurs on over 900 records by hundreds of performers in a wide variety of arrangements. Among these are:

On September 7, 2010, the song was the subject-matter of the BBC Radio Four series, "Soul Music".

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Other versions and parodies

  • Van Morrison frequently performed the song in his live set. A live version from Ronny Scott's in London with Chet Baker was released on the album Nightbird.
  • Stars of the Lid recorded a version called "Don't Bother They're Here" for their 2007 album And Their Refinement of the Decline.
  • The Santa Clara Vanguard uses an instrumental version as its official corps song, which is played at the anniversary dinner, as well as in encore performances.
  • The song was performed as a snippet during the song "The Electric Co." on the U2 release, Under A Blood Red Sky. However, the band did not have the appropriate licensing and did not pay the required royalties and were fined $50,000 (US) and had to make sure any further pressings of the release had an edited version of the song.<ref>http://u2faqs.com/history/a.html#5</ref>
  • In the twenty-second and final episode of The Simpsons' fourth season, entitled Krusty Gets Cancelled, Krusty the Clown sings the altered lyrics: "Send in those soulful and doleful, schmaltz-by-the-bowlful clowns" in a musical number of his comeback special.
  • The song figures prominently in a plotline on the daytime soap opera Ryan's Hope in October 1988 when villain Max Dubujax plants a bomb in a music box that plays the tune. Before he dies from a gunshot wound, he tells his ex-wife Siobhan Ryan, the intended victim, about "losing my timing so late in my career". The bomb detonates in November 1988, killing Siobhan's husband Joe Novak. Tichina Arnold sings a version of the song that is used throughout the storyline.
  • On July 30, 2009, a Broadway-style dance version of "Send in the Clowns", choreographed by Tyce Diorio, was shown to open So You Think You Can Dance (Season 5 Episode 21) Top 6 Results.
  • 'Over the Rainbow' contestant Jenny Douglas performed her version of 'Send in the Clowns' during the 2010 talent contest to find a leading lady for the Wizard of Oz, in musical theatre week.
  • Voice actress Brina Palencia performed a version of "Send in the Clowns" at the convention Anime Central in May 2010.
  • 'Send in the Clowns' is an important piece to the character of Switters in the Tom Robbins novel Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates.
  • Comedian Will Ferrell performed the song on the Late Show with David Letterman on 2 August 2010
  • German Moreno (Kuya Germs) had used this as his main birthday song since his movie Payaso (1986) up to present.
  • The song is performed on an episode of the US sitcom Newhart, leading the dim-witted character of George Utley (Tom Poston) to say, "I never realized what that song was really about! It's about clowns, and when to send them in."
  • In December 2010, Stephen Colbert wrote and performed an "extended ending" to 'Send in the Clowns' to composer Stephen Sondheim when he appeared on Colbert's program, The Colbert Report.
  • In 2011, Paul Harper adapted the lyrics as a parody of bad English usage for Glam Jam, A West End Show, entitled "Send in the Nouns"
  • In 1997 at the opening of the Sydney parliament the NSW Police Band performed a Hollywood theme medley with a solo oboe rendition of 'Send in the Clowns.'
  • Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine reference the song on 'Billy's Smart Circus' from their 30 Something album, released in 1991.


Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Send in the Clowns" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on original research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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