Circus Left Town
Circus Left Town (or Circus ) is a ballad by Eric Clapton . He wrote the song during the processing of his son's death, who died in an accident in 1991 at the age of four. The song is about the last evening they both went to a circus . Clapton rarely plays the piece at concerts; which is why, in contrast to Tears in Heaven , which also deals with death, it is also relatively unknown.
Clapton already played the piece at the MTV unplugged session in 1992, but it was initially not released and only appeared on his album Pilgrim in 1998 . The single reached number 39 in the British charts.
Music and construction
The piece is in Tongeschlecht Moll written, which gives it a sad atmosphere. It reflects Clapton's constitution right after his son's death. Lyrically the song consists of three different sections. A four-part stanza begins, followed by the chorus. Then the second stanza is sung in order to point to the end by repeating the chorus twice.
content
The first stanza is about the cheerful appearance of the child and the fact that the evening at the circus will be his last. In the second verse, Clapton sings of his son's "pure heart" and tells him what he would do if he stayed with him. The refrain is about the sadness that cannot be denied and the friends who have now gathered around the child because the circus has left town. In the stanzas it becomes clear what a close bond Clapton had with his son, as he repeatedly used pathetic descriptions about him such as “fiery eyes” or “radiant smile”.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Eric Clapton: My Life , Leak 2007.
- ↑ Songfacts.com