"Clown" is a song by the Scottish recording artist

Emeli Sandé Adele Emily Sandé, ( ; born 10 March 1987), known professionally as Emeli Sandé, is a Scottish singer and songwriter. Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, and raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, by an English mother and a Zambian father ...

. It was released on 3 February 2013 as the fifth single from her first studio album, ''

Our Version of Events ''Our Version of Events'' is the debut studio album by Scottish recording artist Emeli Sandé. The album was released on 13 February 2012 by Virgin Records, following Sandé's winning of the Critics' Choice Award at the BRIT Awards 2012. Though ...

'' (2012). "Clown" was written by Sandé, Shahid Khan and Grant Mitchell, and produced by Khan under his production name of

Naughty Boy Shahid Khan ( ur, شاهد خان; born 1 January 1981), better known by his stage name Naughty Boy, is a British DJ, record producer, songwriter and musician. In 2012, Khan signed a three–year publishing deal with Sony ATV, as well as a rec ...

Background

The song talks about Sandé's first experiences in the music industry, mainly reflecting her search to be signed by a music company and the encounters with several music business people. Commenting on the song, Sandé said, "It’s about how I felt when I was trying to get signed, I was going for all these meetings and people were looking at me like 'What do we do with you'? It's about not allowing yourself to be judged by others or to be taken for an idiot. I feel the video reflects that.""Emeli Sandé Clown by WIZ"
''Promonews.tv''. 18 December 2012. . Retrieved 17 December 2017.

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Clown" was first released onto YouTube on 6 December 2012 with a total length of three minutes and forty-seven seconds. It was directed by WIZ. The video was made in the style of a

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

and shows Sandé being urged by a group of men, in military uniform, to sign a document in order to receive something in return. The music video takes inspiration from the 1928 silent film "Joan of Arc" as a woman is put on trial and urged by a group of men to recant her claims of belief.

Promotion

Sandé performed "Clown" during the final of the ninth series of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' on 9 December 2012, as well as appearing on ''

The Voice of Holland ''The Voice of Holland'', also known as ''TVOH'', is a Dutch reality TV singing competition, that became a near global TV format franchise, created by media tycoon John de Mol and musician Roel van Velzen, in the Netherlands airing on RTL 4. ...

'' in November 2012. Sandé also performed the song on ''

The Graham Norton Show ''The Graham Norton Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Graham Norton. It was initially broadcast on BBC Two, from 22 February 2007, before moving to BBC One in October 2009. It currently airs on Friday evenings, with Norton s ...

'' on 11 January 2013. "Clown" debuted in Australia at #34 in the week commencing 2 June 2014 on the back of ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' contestants Candice Skjonnemand and Thando Sikwila performing the song on the show on 26 May 2014.

Track listing

;Digital EP # "Clown" – 3:41 # "Clown" – 4:06 # "Kill the Boy" – 3:43 # "Clown" – 3:41 # "Clown" – 3:46 ;2013 Brit Awards # "Clown" / "Next to Me" (Live from the BRITs) – 4:53

Credits and personnel

* Lead

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

– Emeli Sandé *

Lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...

– Emeli Sandé, Shahid Khan, Grant Mitchell * Producers – Naughty Boy * Piano – Grant Mitchell *

Label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

– Virgin Records

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

O'G3NE version

The

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

three-piece girl group

O'G3NE OG3NE ( ) is a Dutch three-piece music group. The group is made up of sisters Lisa, Amy, and Shelley Vol, the latter two of the three being fraternal twins. In 2007, they represented the Netherlands in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007 wit ...

, released a cover version of the song in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

as a digital download on 23 May 2016 by Cornelis Music. The song peaked at number 64 on the

Dutch Singles Chart The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veroni ...

. The song is included on the Special Edition of their third studio album, ''

We Got This In Modern English, ''we'' is a plural, first-person pronoun. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''we'' has six distinct shapes for five word forms: * ''we'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''us'' and ': the accusative (objective; ...

''.

Track listing

Charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clown (Emeli Sande song) Emeli Sandé songs Virgin Records singles Songs written by Emeli Sandé 2013 singles 2010s ballads Contemporary R&B ballads Soul ballads 2012 songs Black-and-white music videos Songs written by Naughty Boy