| Clown | |
| Cover: | Korn-Clown.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Korn |
| Album: | Korn |
| Recorded: | 1994 |
| Studio: | Indigo Ranch Studios, Malibu, California[1] |
| Genre: | Nu metal[2] [3] |
| Length: |
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| Label: | |
| Producer: | Ross Robinson |
| Prev Title: | Shoots and Ladders |
| Prev Year: | 1995 |
| Next Title: | No Place to Hide |
| Next Year: | 1996 |
"Clown" is a song by the American nu metal band Korn. It was released as the fourth single from their self-titled debut album on July 12, 1995.
What inspired Jonathan Davis to write this song though, was an early gig in San Diego where a person in the audience was booing them and telling them to "go back to Bakersfield!" 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.A quote taken from Korn's Who Then Now? video, which serves as an introduction for the music video:
The video begins with the band walking in a hallway in El Segundo High School.[6] 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.[7] The music video was directed by McG;[8] it first aired in April 1996, and by May it was in the top 50 rotation on MTV.[9]
Note: the back cover does not state which version this is. However, it's identical to the Radio Edit on the below European promo.