“Send in the Clowns” is a song by Stephen Sondheim from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music. 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 created the song specifically for the actress Glynis Johns who created the role of Desirée on Broadway. The song is written in four verses and a bridge, using a complex triple meter. It became Sondheim’s most popular song after Judy Collins recorded it in 1975. Subsequently, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Shirley Bassey, Zarah Leander, Tiger Lillies and many other famous artists have recorded the song, and it became a jazz standard.
(Song was proposed by Chris, thanks x 1000)
I’m a big sondheim fan, he says in one of these interviews that Glynis Johns was a chain smoker and he wrote ‘Send in the clowns’ low in pitch with lots of pauses with her gravelly tone and breathing in mind?!