"Clown" is a song by the Scottish recording artist Emeli Sandé. It was released on 3 February 2013 as the fifth single from her first studio album, Our Version of Events (2012). "Clown" was written by Sandé, Shahid Khan and Grant Mitchell, and produced by Khan under his production name of Naughty Boy.
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.[1]
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.[2] It was directed by WIZ.[1] The video was made in the style of a silent film and shows Sandé being urged by a group of men, in military uniform, to sign a document to receive something in return.[1] 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 beliefs.
Sandé performed "Clown" during the final of the ninth series of The X Factor on 9 December 2012,[3] as well as appearing on The Voice of Holland in November 2012.[4] Sandé also performed the song on The Graham Norton Show on 11 January 2013.
"Clown" debuted in Australia at No. 34 in the week commencing 2 June 2014 on the back of The Voice contestants Candice Skjonnemand and Thando Sikwila performing the song on the show on 26 May 2014.[5]
The Dutch three-piece girl group O'G3NE, released a cover version of the song in the Netherlands as a digital download on 23 May 2016 by Cornelis Music. The song peaked at number 64 on the Dutch Singles Chart. The song is included on the Special Edition of their third studio album, We Got This.
