Der große Clown [English translation]

The circus tent was his life...

Its contents, his whole world.

Wherever it stood at the moment, that was his home:

The great clown.

His saxophone cried,

A child's laugh was his reward;

He bowed deeply to the applause,

The great clown.

When he was still young,

He swung from trapeze to trapeze without a net.

He seemed completely weightless in space,

The great clown.

The great clown's going home,

The great clown's going home;

He'll surely go to Heaven,

Because he made people merry.

He carried his wife to a very early grave.

Later on, his daughter fell from the wire,

That made him weep so much,

The great clown.

He applied his make-up thicker,

Climbed up into the big top,

Because he was united with her there,

The great clown.

The big show was his life,

He never found a wife again,

He very rarely found a friend,

The great clown.

The dark hair became white;

He was shoved off onto a siding,

Comic relief...

That's what became of the great clown.

Make-up painted deathly white,

Crooked back, a gimpy leg,

The audience that laughed at him,

The great clown.

Trailers stand here in the rain,

Performers stand around and freeze...

The big show is now over,

My great clown.

The great clown's going home,

The great clown's going home;

He'll surely go to Heaven,

Because he made people merry.