"Clown" is a song by the American

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

band

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...

. It was released as the fourth single from their self-titled debut album on July 12, 1995.

Meaning

What inspired

Jonathan Davis Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971), also known as JD or JDevil, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman of nu metal band Korn, who are considered a pioneering act of the ...

to write this song though, was an early gig in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

where a person in the audience was booing them and telling them to "go back to

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

!" Jonathan knelt down to hear him and the guy took a swing at him. He missed and the band's manager assaulted him. The person was all tattooed and looked like a "clown" to Jonathan Davis, inspiring the title of the song and also the line "Hit me clown, because I'm not from your town." Preceding the song is a conversation with Korn fooling around at the song's recording, and in the conversation, one of the members says "I wish we could put 'Twist' on a fucking tape"; this references a track that would eventually appear on the band's next album ''

Life Is Peachy ''Life Is Peachy'' is the second studio album by American nu metal band Korn. It was released on October 15, 1996, through both Immortal Records and Epic Records. After the release of Korn's 1994 self-titled debut album, the band reunited with ...

''. A quote taken from Korn's ''

Who Then Now? Who Then Now? is a biographical video released by American nu metal band Korn on March 18, 1997. It was certified platinum in the United States by the RIAA on May 5, 1999. History It features interviews with the band up to the recording of ''Life ...

'' video, which serves as an introduction for the music video:

Music video

The video begins with the band walking in a hallway of a high school. There are shots of a clown balancing something on his nose. Soon, the band starts playing in a locker room which appears to be happening at night. Jonathan Davis is seen singing and, in some clips, he's sitting in a locker room inside one of the dry showers. With a few people spraying a little bit of water on his hair to tease him. This represents some of his painful experiences in high school of being teased. It also features the band in a gym with clips of jocks in their football jerseys and cheerleaders seen by someone in the halls. One of the cheerleaders goes into a bathroom and starts smiling in the dark room. She proceeds to brush her hair with her hands. Clips also show the band performing in a dark room. The video ends with the cheerleader in the bathroom taking off her shirt, showing a tattoo on her back which is the band's logo. The music video most likely could be them in the school after a football game at night. The music video was directed by

McG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

; it first aired in April 1996, and by May it was in the top 50 rotation on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Track listing

US Radio Promo

* CD5" ESK 6580 #"Clown" – 4:36 Note: the back cover does not state which version this is. However, it's identical to the Radio Edit on the below European promo.

European Radio Promo

*CD5" ESK 7735 #"Clown" (Radio Edit) – 3:52

References

Works cited

* * *

External links

Lyrics
* {{authority control Songs about clowns 1994 songs 1995 singles Korn songs Music videos directed by McG Immortal Records singles Songs based on actual events Epic Records singles Songs written by Reginald Arvizu Songs written by Jonathan Davis Songs written by James Shaffer Songs written by David Silveria Songs written by Brian Welch