Lyrics

Cotton candy sticky fingers
Fryer grease and smoke that lingers
In my wig and costume clothes
Nightmare paint, a bright red nose
A tiny town, the pouring rain
The monkeys pick fleas from the mane
Of a lion who has lost his fight
To noise and heat and firelight

In the ring, I am a clown
We bring the circus into town
And tumble round like acrobats
For ticket stubs and coins in hats
Where are the crowds?
They skip the show
And listen to the radio
They don't bother coming down
When the circus comes to town

The chorus girls, they twirl and dance
The frayed lace of their underpants
I made myself some grander plans
Swallowed swords and sleights of hand
A magic man cuts me in half
To oohs and aahs and doubtful laughs
Every morning crack of dawn
The wheels turn and we move on

In the ring, I am a clown
We bring the circus into town
And tumble round like acrobats
For ticket stubs and coins in hats
Where are the crowds?
They skip the show
And listen to the radio
They don't bother coming down
When the circus comes to town

At noon I’ll share my sandwiches
With elephants and ostriches
And I think about my precious kids
Packing their own school lunches
I daydream of a different tent
The summer evenings that we spent
At Rissers Beach laid side by side
Through nylon walls, the roaring tide

In the ring, I am a clown
We bring the circus into town
And tumble round like acrobats
For ticket stubs and coins in hats
Where are the crowds?
They skip the show
And listen to the radio
They don't bother coming down
When the circus comes to town