SEND IN THE CLOWNS (lyrics) Re-mastered version - JUDY COLLINS

"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.

In 1973, the play and song debuted on Broadway. The song become popular with theater audiences but had not become a pop hit. Sondheim explained how the song became a hit:
First of all, it wasn't a hit for two years. I mean, the first person to sing it was Bobby Short, who happened to see the show in Boston, and it was exactly his kind of song: He's a cabaret entertainer. And then my memory is that Judy Collins picked it up, but she recorded it in England; Sinatra heard it and recorded it. And between the two of them, they made it a hit.
In 1975, Judy Collins recorded "Send In the Clowns" and included it in her album, Judith. The song was released as a single, which soon became a major pop hit. It remained on the Billboard Hot 100 for 11 weeks in 1975, reaching Number 36. Then, in 1977, the song again reached the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for 16 weeks and reached Number 19. At the Grammy Awards of 1976, the Judy Collins performance of the song was named "Song of the Year".
After Collins recorded the song, it was recorded by Frank Sinatra, Kenny Rogers, Lou Rawls and many others.
In 1985, Sondheim added a verse for Barbra Streisand to use in her concert performances.and recording, which was featured on The Broadway Album. In 1986, her version became a Number 25 Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary hit.
The song has become a jazz standard with performances by Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, the Stan Kenton Orchestra and many others.
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[Seasurfjoy]

Aaaaah. Lovely.

[Seasurfjoy]

@archie977 Probably is, but living in the moment until it comes, may be a better choice - otherwise we may find ourselves waiting for it to come.

[Rifuar1]

amazing song. i wrote from Perú, South América and you dont know how many people enjoy this beautiful song. thanks for post here for everybody.

[gwenparker24msncom]

Nice..very nice and very very interesting. Now I need to see the movie.

[cmcr144]

" I thought you want what I want.....sorry my dear" is the key to this song. The tragedy happenned..the rejection.....so bring in the clowns to cheer us up.....realizing she is all alone....she is just kidding herself......we are the clowns...perhaps we are also the clowns because she knows she played with Love and lost......thinking she can change someone to what she wanted.........well, .....maybe she will get another chance a true love by next year.

[archie977]

death may be the greatest of all human blessings

[audioman628]

Timeless piece of work.

Excellent. Judy your great

[PlayForMeASymphony]

The best version of this song.... with the back drop of Charlie Chaplin a personal hero of mine. Thank you to a dear friend for this share...

[ckbasset511]

My favorite version, absolutely. Thank you for remastering and also for so much information!

[hgentrar]

excellent