Clown (Korn song)

"Clown"
Single by Korn
from the album Korn
Released	July 12, 1995 (1995-07-12)
Recorded	1994
Studio	Indigo Ranch Studios, Malibu, California[1][2][3]
Genre	Nu metal[4][5]
Length	4:36 (album version) 3:38 (radio edit)[6]
Label	Epic Immortal[7]
Songwriter(s)	Reginald Arvizu Jonathan Davis James Shaffer David Silveria Brian Welch
Producer(s)	Ross Robinson
Korn singles chronology
"Shoots and Ladders" (1995) "Clown" (1995) "No Place to Hide" (1996)

"Clown" is a song by the American nu metal band Korn. It was released as the fourth single from their self-titled debut album on July 12, 1995.

Meaning

What inspired Jonathan Davis to write this song though, was an early gig in San Diego where a person in the audience was booing them and telling them to "go back to Bakersfield!" Jonathan knelt down to hear him and the guy took a swing at him. He missed and the band's manager assaulted him. The person was all tattooed and looked like a "clown" to Jonathan Davis, inspiring the title of the song and also the line "Hit me clown, because I'm not from your town."^[8] Preceding the song is a conversation with Korn fooling around at the song's recording, and in the conversation, one of the members says "I wish we could put 'Twist' on a fucking tape"; this references a track that would eventually appear on the band's next album Life Is Peachy. A quote taken from Korn's Who Then Now? video, which serves as an introduction for the music video:

I wrote a song about a guy in San Diego who took a swing at me. He's all "Fuck you! Go back to Bakersfield!" Well I didn't understand that, so I bent down and he tried to swing at me, and our road manager Jeff knocked his ass out, that song is Clown.^[9][10]

Music video

The video begins with the band walking in a hallway in El Segundo High School.^[11] There are shots of a clown balancing something on his nose. Soon, the band starts playing in a locker room which appears to be happening at night. Jonathan Davis is seen singing and, in some clips, he's sitting in a locker room inside one of the dry showers. With a few people spraying a little bit of water on his hair to tease him. This represents some of his painful experiences in high school of being teased. It also features the band in a gym with clips of jocks in their football jerseys and cheerleaders seen by someone in the halls. One of the cheerleaders goes into a bathroom and starts smiling in the dark room. She proceeds to brush her hair with her hands. Clips also show the band performing in a dark room. The video ends with the cheerleader in the bathroom taking off her shirt, showing a tattoo on her back which is the band's logo. The music video most likely could be them in the school after a football game at night.^[12] The music video was directed by McG;^[13] it first aired in April 1996, and by May it was in the top 50 rotation on MTV.^[14]

Track listing

US Radio Promo

• CD5" ESK 6580^[15]

1. "Clown" – 4:36

Note: the back cover does not state which version this is. However, it's identical to the Radio Edit on the below European promo.

European Radio Promo

• CD5" ESK 7735^[16]

1. "Clown" (Radio Edit) – 3:52

References

Works cited

• Arvizu, Reginald (2009). Got the Life. William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-06-166249-2.
• Furman, Leah (2000). Korn: Life in the Pit. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 1466809299.
• Small, Doug (1998). Korn: The Story of Korn. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0825618045.

External links

• Lyrics^{[permanent dead link]}
• Music Video on YouTube

This page was last edited on 9 March 2024, at 20:18