We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Look At All The Funny People

from Voices From The Right Brain by Rob Siegel

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

about

This was titled "The Greatest Show On Earth" until I found out that Katy Moffatt got sued by Ringling Brothers for using that title. 'Course they're now out of business, so I suppose it's a moot point. My "life's like a circus" song.

lyrics

look at all the funny people
climb out of the little car
see the clown
see the juggler
see the princess on the bar
see a man shot from a canon
in a splendid starched white shirt
see the spectacle
the greatest show on earth

the kids aren’t paying attention
to the woman on the wire
the clown will get the safety net
he’s tended all his life
he’s there to stem the bleeding
in case someone gets hurt
provide distraction
from the greatest show on earth

see the juggler try to keep
a dozen items in the air
balanced with great care
while running up the stairs
the freak show is still scary
though you’ve seen it all before
there’s a pinhead living just next door

underneath the big top
the elephants display
their noses up each other’s butt
like business on parade
trained tigers jump through flaming hoops
to increase their net worth
it’s a sellout
at the greatest show on earth

higher go the juggling knives
misjudge one and you’re gone
I always thought these safety nets
were built from tax-free bonds
but you’ve got to grab that golden ring
to fill up your silk purse
long term savings
for the greatest show on earth

I guess I’ll be the strong man
see the load that I can bear
you can beat the beasts back
with a bullwhip and a chair
preoccupied by shadows
in the cave against the wall
fearful that the fire’s growing small

preoccupied by patterns
and berated by the light
and pissing in the wind
(whistling in the wind)
won’t make it right

look at all the funny people
climb into the little car
I don’t like to wear this clown suit
I’m more at home with my guitar
when they shoot me from the cannon
I hope I land unhurt
performing daily
the greatest show on earth

she enters the arena
in her bathrobe and bare feet
she’s still the main attraction
even odds she goes to sleep
it’s time to dim the house lights
let the curtain come down first
private engagement
of the greatest show on earth
appearing nightly
the greatest show on earth
for my eyes only
the greatest show on earth

credits

from Voices From The Right Brain, released December 15, 2004

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Rob Siegel Boston, Massachusetts

Rob Siegel is well-known in Boston folk music circles as an innovative songwriter who draws from his idyllic yet stressed- out middle-class suburban existence and produces memorable, intelligent, well-crafted songs.

His first new CD in 14 years, "A Landscape of Ghosts," will be out in April, with a CD release show at Club Passim on Monday April 30th.
... more

contact / help

Contact Rob Siegel

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Rob Siegel, you may also like: