Just when I'd stopped opening doors,
Finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours,
Making my entrance again with my usual flair,
Sure of my lines,
No one is there.

Don't you love farce?
My fault I fear.
I thought that you'd want what I want.
Sorry, my dear.
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother, they're here.

These Lyrics are part of the song Send in the Clowns by Stephen Sondheim from the 1973 Broadway musical A little Night Music.
The song got famous in 1975, two years after the musicals Broadway premiere when July Collins and Frank Sinatra included it in their album recordings. It is famous ever since sung by many famous actores including Barbara Streisand [1985], for who was a verse added, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, who also sung the role of Desire in the Broadway revival of A little Night Music in 2009/2010. On September 7, 2010 the song was subject matter of Soul-Music, a BBC Radio Four series.
Sondheim explained in an interview in 1990 that he used the term clown as synonym for fool, especially four fools in matter of the heart, the matter of love. For me the clown, as the clowns mask signify how we often hide our true feelings behind a smiling face.