Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Tears of a Clown
Don't Let My Show Convince You
The greatest songs remain those that speak to our most vulnerable moments in a language everyone can understand. This is how I know empathy isn’t dead. On the surface, Tears of a Clown is a torch song, but it’s soooo much more than that. Tears speaks to everyone who ever felt isolated and tried so desperately to keep those feelings locked away from public view (which is all of us). It sings to all of us who struggle to hide what we’re feeling (which has been all of us). Tears is one of those songs that are always with us, always in the ether, and always in the minds of the people. Tears could have been released in some form or fashion going back through all of recorded time to right now, and it would ring as true as the day it was released. Its subject matter is universal (which means all of us).
Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says, "Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up." Man bursts into tears. Says, "But doctor...I am Pagliacci.”
-Alan Moore, The Watchmen
Smokey, with one of the all-time great voices, is singing about all the things we’re scared of and won’t admit. He’s singing directly about a love that’s gone, but the resulting feeling is ubiquitous. It applies to everyone in some kinda way. It’s about all these things that hurt us and cause pain, real or imagined, body or mind, or both, and (here’s the crux of it all) the things we do not talk about.
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-Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Tears of a Clown
It’s one thing to conceal the sadness. That’s alarmingly common. It takes a wonderful friend to see through our walls and bullshit and then make a conscious choice to address it with us head-on. Those friends are the ones we must keep and cherish. Celebrate them as often as you can. Those empathetic motherfuckers are rare and valuable. Keep them close like family heirlooms. They’ll save your life. Tears is enveloped with a circus motif, like Barnum & Bailey just rolled into town, which belies the true intent. The Ringling Brothers’ clowns are hilarious indeed, and laughter is always helpful, but that’s window dressing for what Douglas Adams called the long, dark tea-time of the soul. Sometimes you have to cry and sometimes you have to charge headlong into what hurts. It’s okay to do both at the same time. Smokey & The Miracles are admitting it for all of us to hear. That’s why it rings so true. The bravery is undeniable. The question remains: What are we prepared to do about it?
Maybe that’s too much to hold to a pop song, a torch song. Maybe Tears is to Motown as Help was a Beatles song. Years later John Lennon would describe Help as what he thought was a great pop song when he wrote it, but later realized it was actually a genuine cry for help. It happens. I understand. I understand… and therein is the heart of Tears of a Clown. We all understand. In this life, we are each of us, going to break a heart and have our heart broken. We’re going to deliver scars and receive them. We going to hurt people and not know we did, and, if we’re living well, we’re going to make someone’s life brighter. Tears transcends because it’s so bold and honest. That’s what makes it great. It’s honest and painful and genuine. We can aspire to its admissions. What’s more, we can help kick the darkness.
I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy. Because they know what it feels like to feel absolutely worthless and they don't want anybody else to feel like that.
- Robin Williams
Superb analysis!