"Clown" is a song by the American

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

band

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

. 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, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is the lead vocalist and frontman of nu metal band Korn, which is considered a pioneering act of the nu metal genre. Davis's ...

to write this song though, was an early gig in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

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

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

!" 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 Korn (album), 1994 self-titled debut album, the band ...

''. A quote taken from Korn's '' Who Then Now?'' video, which serves as an introduction for the music video:

Music video

The video begins with the band walking in a hallway in

El Segundo High School El Segundo High School, or ESHS, is a four-year public high school located in El Segundo, California. It is the only secondary school incorporated by El Segundo Unified School District. First built in 1927, the school campus contains 5 main buil ...

. 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 a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the el ...

; and produced by Dana Shaffer at the production house “Sunshine Filmworks” in Hollywood. It first aired in April 1996, and by May it was in the top 50 rotation on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

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 Songs about bullying