Story-songs, like last episode’s “Read my Mind” by Gordon Lightfoot, leave a mark in our memories. Very little is needed to return them to the foreground of our mind.
That’s also the case with this episode’s story-song, another
ballad, this time for Broadway, written by the fantastic Stephen Sondheim, a
great in American stagecraft.
I first encountered this song in 1976 as part of my chorus
class, not on the radio. It requires a maturity of experience, which I didn’t
have then. I caught the song’s cosmic irony but didn’t truly comprehend the personal
devastation of the character who sings it. Nor did I catch the revealing
epiphany of the last line.
Many greats have performed it: Frank Sinatra, Judy Collins,
Barbra Streisand, Judy Dench. The version in my head harkens to Bernadette
Peters’ performance. First to perform it, though, and the singer for whom it
was intended was Glynis Johns.
If you know Sondheim’s work, you’ve already guessed the
song: “Send in the Clowns”.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome
00:40 Introduction to “Send in the Clowns”
02:58 Clear Communication
03:30 Strong Imagery and Emotion
08:52 Powerful Lines / Ballad
13:10 Four Lessons for Fiction / Nonfiction Writers
15:52 Last Words / Closing
Total Run Time = 18:02
LINKS
Lyrics https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/judycollins/sendintheclowns.html
Performance by Bernadette Peters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOZhmsp6iBQ
& by Glynnis Johns https://youtu.be/OAl-EawVobY
#stephensondheim #cosmicirony #ballad #sendintheclowns
Analysis is All Original Content / No AI Used
[Fair Use declares that we can quote from copyrighted works
by other writers as long as we use those quotations for analysis, explication,
and teaching examples.]
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