They Murdered the Clown

Pre>intro: a em a em gm A em g d The ringmaster looked a bit pasty and down dying as he was to get out of town A em The lions and the tigers had gnawed at his feet G d But the lion tamer's whip hurt much more than their teeth A em g d The giovanni sisters performed in a sweat someone cut holes in the safety net A em The ritzo brothers cancelled at the last minute G d But no one missed their act there wasn't much in it Chorus A em d a And after the show that night the clowns had the makeup wiped from their faces A em d a When somebody pulled a knife and cut off coco's bright red braces A d a e a d a e They murdered the clown they wiped that grin right off his face A d a e a d a e They murdered the clown still the world's not a funnier place Em gm Funnier place (first and last time only) The kids rode the elephant heavy as lead I think he'd much rather have sat on their heads They're ripping the horn from the rhino tonight So some fat sheik can fuck all night And watch out for coco when he's had a drink He'll tickle the children right where they're pink You might run away with the circus for fun But it looks more like somewhere that you'd run from (repeat chorus) You should see the fear on the dancing bears' faces Take off their muzzles and check out the view The gypsy boys seem such colourful characters But you wouldn't want them moving in next to you And after the whole lot has pulled out of town The ringmaster still looks like he's going to drown He pulls out a long knife that bears his initials And buries it deep before he blows the whistle A em She looked at him sideways she looked at him dark G d She pulled at her beard and she started to bark A em He told her before not to mess with the staff G But she fell for the clown because she said he made her laugh (repeat chorus) /pre> --- They Murdered the Clown - Graham Parker