Happy The Clown
Thought I'd follow Owen's lead and lighten things up a bit. Just a lyric for today (yaaay!) You need not be subjected to my horrid singing and guitar playing, Lol! 🤣
Funniest thing, when the title finally presented itself as I was writing the lyric, I looked up clown songs and lo and behold, there actually was a Happy The Clown aired on CBS in the mid 1950's! Found him on Youtube!
I decided to keep the title, tho' it is a different clown because CBS's Happy The Clown was big on 'marching sticks' that he'd hand out to the children which they'd bang together and take home with them as a souvenir.
I don't remember ever having seen the show, but who knows, maybe I did and it was stored away in my sub-conscience (?)
Question: Is this lyric cohesive? Any suggestions to make this lyric better would be appreciated.
HAPPY THE CLOWN
[Verse 1]
There once was the happiest of clowns
If he smiled any harder his face would break
But when he handed out his last balloon
A frown, that happy clown couldn’t fake
[Verse 2]
He stopped showing his face at birthday parties
When his smile turned upside down
But he’d save up for a big bag of balloons
To turn his down-in-the-dumps around
[Chorus]
A balloon holds you up when you’re feeling down
Red balloons, yellow; whatever color fancies you
Girls and boys would line up for Happy The Clown
And the tricks with balloons he would do
[Verse 3]
Now, some folks say that Happy The Clown
Was the town drunk from down on skid row
But he never did fall off ‘a that wagon
‘Cuz balloon-bunnies kept him on his toes
[Chorus]
A balloon holds you up when you’re feeling down
Red balloons, yellow; whatever color fancies you
Girls and boys would line up for Happy The Clown
And the tricks with balloons he would do
[Bridge]
Birthday balloons, wedding balloons
Balloons for funerals, too
And once in a blue moon a hot-air balloon
Graces the sky of blue
[Chorus]
A balloon holds you up when you’re feeling down
Red balloons, yellow; whatever color fancies you
Girls and boys would line up for Happy The Clown
And the tricks with balloons he would do.
© 2025 Renee La Chapelle – All Rights Reserved
Comments
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Thinking about dumping the Bridge as I'm playing the song it seems to disconnect from Happy The Clown. Thoughts?
Thanks!
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Why did he stop showing up at birthday parties ? its a good concept , not sure about the town drunk
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@ElvisNash see verse 2, line 2; he wasn't happy enough to show up at birthday parties when he was out of balloons. V3, the town drunk is to show that Happy found joy in making bunny-balloons and no longer needed to drink booze.
Anyways, if you have to explain it, I suppose it sucks. But it seems pretty clear to me. I appreciate your thoughts,
Reread it and it still seems quite clear to me, hmmm. Would you mind reading it again and letting me know if it's clearer to you?
Thanks,
Renee
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I didn't say it sucks , Its a good concept . it funny your in Nashville where co=writing is king
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@ElvisNash I edited my previous comment. Don't know if you saw it. I reread the entire lyric and it seems quite clear to me what's going on. Would you mind re-reading and letting me know if the second time around it's clearer to you?
Thanks,
Renee
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There once was the happiest of clowns
If he smiled any harder his face would break
And when he handed out his last balloon
A frown, that happy clown couldn’t fake
The but is out of place
ok he stopped showing up cuz he ran out of balloons , gotcha
The town drunk is bit charring , but I guess it works
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@ElvisNash i suck at happy! Lol! 🤣
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ha ha ha , better than dark songs putting everybody in a bad mood . I'm not thinking about the political climate on a clown song , Good job
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@ElvisNash not to destroy your happy on clown song but clowns have a very DARK history! Lol! I kid you NOT! But on a brighter note, I always wanted to write a clown song! 🤡
Renee 😍
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I reckon , We all heard the dark clown angle a million times . it's extremely easy to go dark , upbeat happy is hard . Or at least with great solutions in dark songs
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@ElvisNash I write 'em any way they come. Don't care which way it goes as long as it makes sense and maybe somebody learns something....or not! And thanks for pumping up my post a bit!
Renee
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Well you think different than I , that's all right. pro writers write what sells , they have families to feed. I highly doubt a political song will feed the bulldog lol
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It's funny, but upbeat and happy can be harder to do at at times!
I like your chorus, especially that first line: "A balloon holds you up when you’re feeling down". That's got legs.
I agree with your about losing the bridge. It's about balloons, but doesn't feel like it's about Happy.
In verse 2 I thought of:
Started saving his doubloons for a big bag of balloons
but it may be too long to fit.
I'm a bit with Elvis on V3 and the town drunk. If we wasn't the town drunk, and it was just rumours, why is it there in the song? And the tone of the rest feels fairly light, like it could be a children's song, but that part definitely feels different.
You've definitely got something to build around here.
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The site is songwriting , lets talk songwriting ,
The town drunk kills the mood of the meaning of balloons make people happy , its also dated since now we have homeless people with addictions such as alcohol . We don't say Town drunk anymore
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@ElvisNash I understand the pro-songwriter's write for the charts to feed the family. So thankful I don't have that hanging over me. Songwriting is my freedom of speech. I pray deeply that poetic license lives on forever. At least in the U.S.
Anyway, looking at that 'but' versus 'and' and I appreciate you pointing it out BUT I still wanna say 'but' for some reason. Also, now that you AND Owen agree that the drunk angle doesn't work, I'm going back to the drawing board. Verse 3 HELL!!
Thank you so much for being consistent in reviewing my songs. Means a lot to me.
Renee 💌
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@RainyDayMan Thank you for your input. And I agree with both you and Elvis that V3 needs to go. As well as the Bridge of which you and I agree on.
So far as the Chorus, line 1, I can't take complete credit for it as the whole idea for the song came from the film "Sea of Love" starring Al Pacino. He was investigating murders surrounding romance advertisements placed in the newspaper. A woman carrying a big bunch of balloons showed up at a potential date's door to find the man had been murdered and Al Pacino answered the door instead. As they were conversing, he said something like, 'if you put don't those balloons, you might feel better'.... through her sobs of learning her date was dead, she answered something like, 'they're (the balloons) are the only thing holding me up'. THUS, this song!
Anyway, I find it interesting where songs come from and I thought you might get a kick out of it!
Renee 😊
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Maybe something like the following for V3 to replace stoopid town drunk:
[Verse 3]
Irresistible was that twinkle in Happy’s eyes
When he’s making a wee-one a balloon-bunny
And when he’d blow up a balloon inside a bottle
Happy The Clown made a dreary day sunny
Thank you again for your honest feedback,
Renee
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Ok out with the town drunk
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I like that new idea Renee! It makes sense to show Happy using the balloons, and that kind of detail adds depth to a song.
Good choice!
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@RainyDayMan thank you! I trust your opinion, Owen.
Renee
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Well, here she is....needs a sweeter voice, BUT nonetheless:
https://soundcloud.com/reneelachapelle/happy-the-clown
Thank you Song Doctors!! 💌
HAPPY THE CLOWN
[Verse 1]
There once was the happiest of clowns
If he smiled any wider his face would break
But when he handed out his last balloon
A frown, that happy clown couldn’t fake
[Verse 2]
He stopped showing his face at birthday parties
When his smile turned upside down
He’d trade doubloons for a bag of balloons
To turn his down-in-the-dumps around
[Chorus 1]
A balloon holds you up when you’re feeling down
Red balloons, yellow; whatever color fancies you
Girls and boys would line up for Happy The Clown
And the funny tricks with balloons he would do
[Verse 3]
Irresistible was that twinkle in Happy’s eyes
Making a wee-one a balloon-bunny
A hot-air balloon ride over the countryside
Happy by your side like happy-go-lucky!
[Chorus 2]
A balloon holds you up when you’re feeling down
Green balloons, purple; whatever color fancies you
Girls and boys would line up for Happy The Clown
And the funny tricks with balloons he would do
[Bridge]
What became of Happy The Clown
Nobody seems to know
But he will long be remembered
For his incredible gung-ho, whoa…whoa…whoa…whoa, oh-oh-oh
[Chorus 1]
A balloon holds you up when you’re feeling down
Red balloons, yellow; whatever color fancies you
Girls and boys would line up for Happy The Clown
And the funny tricks with balloons he would do, woo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
© 2025 Renee La Chapelle – All Rights Reserved
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It's better Renee than the town drunk . I'm not sure why he stopped showing up though
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I like version 2 better and it's lovely to hear it too.
And thanks for sharing the "Sea of Love" story. Always interesting to hear how these things arrive!
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