1970 Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: The Tears Of A Clown

Very much a product of two talents, firstly Stevie Wonder wrote the original backing track to 'Tears Of A Clown' in 1966 but couldn't come up with any lyrics. After hearing a playback, Robinson picked out the sound of a circus in its recurring steam driven calliope motif and took it as inspiration for a set of lyrics. The rest, as they say, is history.

The main theme of 'Tears Of A Clown' is a typical Wonder drum beat driven R&B foot stomper that précis his own 'Uptight' written the same year. Far from everything being alright this time, Robinson's girl has gone leaving him lonely and hurting; "I'm sad, oh sadder than sad; you're gone and I'm hurting so bad", though to the world at large he's still happy as larry. In taking his 'putting on a brave face' cue from 'Pagliacci', 'Tears Of A Clown' presents an incongruous union of words and music, but a further twist of perversion sees it using that fairground motif to illustrate the vocalist at his lowest ebb and the "I cry the tears of a clown, when there's no one around" refrain.

It would have been easy for all this to collapse into tricksy gimmickry or even the corn of novelty (which is what the infamous 1967 promo video of a clown rubbing fake tears off his face in an empty television studio tried it's damndest to reduce it to), but 'Tears Of A Clown' is the satisfying sound of two masters of their art at the top of their game and in no mood for dropping the ball.

Soul doesn't get much better than when it comes from Robinson's mouth, and although his heartbreak lies a few keys lower than the intricate music it still manages to dominate and ensure that his sadness overrules anything its bright facade has to say. Which after all is what the song is all 'about'. And if you can dance to it with abandon (which many did, do and will), then all that does is confirm that Robinson's clown mask, much like the song itself, is a totally believable one. One of the shiniest jewels in the Motown crown.