The Clown-Charles Mingus

[ti:The Clown] [ar:Charles Mingus] [al:Complete Recordings: 1957 - 1960] [offset:0] [00:00.35]The Clown - Charles Mingus (查尔斯·明格斯) [00:20.18]Man, there was this clown, [00:21.70] [00:24.16]And he was a real happy guy, a real happy guy [00:27.79] [00:29.57]He had all these greens and all these yellows and all [00:32.36]These oranges bubbling around inside of him. [00:34.50] [00:35.77]And he had just one thing he wanted in this world, [00:38.09] [00:39.21]He just wanted to make people laugh, [00:40.54] [00:41.39]That's all he wanted out of this world, [00:43.39] [00:44.12]We was a real happy guy [00:45.41] [01:08.55]Let me tell you about this clown, [01:09.87] [01:12.13]He used to a raise a sweat every night [01:13.70]Out on the stage and just wouldn't stop, [01:16.15] [01:16.83]That's how hard he worked, [01:18.04] [01:19.15]He was trying to make people laugh. [01:20.56] [01:22.41]He used to have this cute little gimmick [01:23.75]Where he had a seal follow him up and down a step-ladder, [01:26.36] [01:27.05]Blowing Columbia the gem of the ocean out on a b-flat scale [01:29.36]Sears-roebuck a model thirteen twenty-two A plastic bugle, [01:32.76]A real cute act, but they didn't laugh, [01:36.99] [01:38.41]Well you know, a few little things here and there, [01:41.11]But not really, and he was booking out in all these tank towns, [01:45.30] [01:46.51]Playing the rotary clubs, the Kiwanis clubs and the American legion hall; [01:49.91] [01:51.78]And he just wasn't making it, [01:53.23] [01:54.04]But he had all these wonderful things going on inside of him, [01:56.20]All these greens and yellows and all these oranges, [01:58.79]He was a real happy guy, [02:00.61]And all he wanted to do was to make these people laugh, [02:02.65]That's all he wanted out of this world, [02:04.06]To make people laugh, and then something began to grow, [02:07.95] [02:08.67]Something that just wasn't good began growing [02:10.69]Inside of his head [02:11.82] [03:05.24]You know, it's a funny thing. [03:06.38] [03:12.28]Something began to trouble this clown, [03:13.93] [03:15.63]You know little things, little things once in a while would happen, [03:19.13] [03:20.23]That would make that crowed begin to howl, [03:21.84] [03:22.44]But they were never the right things, [03:23.75] [03:24.72]Like for example the time the seal got sick on the stage, [03:27.33] [03:27.87]All over the stage, the crowd just, [03:29.49]Just broke out, little things like that. [03:32.08]And they weren't suppose to [03:33.35]They weren't supposed to be funny. [03:34.83] [03:37.23]This began to trouble him, and it bothered him. [03:39.40]And this little thing began to grow inside of him. [03:41.27] [03:42.86]And all those greens and all those oranges and all those yellows, [03:45.62] [03:47.69]They just weren't as bright as they used to be. [03:49.26] [03:50.46]And all he wanted to do was to make that crowd laugh, [03:52.85]That's all he wanted to do [03:54.04] [03:55.60]There was this one night [03:56.49]When he was playing at the rotary club. [03:58.36] [03:59.45]All these dentists, all these druggists, [04:01.06] [04:02.79]All these postmen sitting around, [04:04.74]And they were a real cold bunch, nothing was happening. [04:06.99] [04:08.61]He was leaving the stage when he stumbled over his ladder [04:11.69]And fell flat on his face, just flat on his face. [04:15.75] [04:18.55]When he stands up and he's got this bloody nose [04:20.71] [04:21.77]And he looks out at the crowd [04:22.89]And that crowd is just rolling on the floor, [04:25.24]He's just knocked them flat out, [04:27.12] [04:29.38]This begins to trouble and even more. [04:30.97] [04:31.72]He begins to see something, he begins to see something [04:34.22] [08:47.20]And right about here is when things began to change, [08:49.93] [08:50.50]But really change. [08:51.57] [08:54.00]Not the least of which our clown changes his act. [08:56.38] [08:57.13]He bought himself a set of football pads, [08:58.80] [09:00.14]A yellow helmet with red stripes, [09:02.79] [09:04.19]Hired a girl who dropped a 5-pound sac [09:06.45]Of flour on his head every night, [09:08.28]Maybe twenty feet up. Oh man, what a pit, [09:10.37]That just broke them up every night, [09:11.87] [09:12.48]But not like the buke. [09:13.97] [09:16.87]And all those colors, [09:18.05]All those yellows, all those reds, all those oranges, [09:21.68] [09:23.10]A lot of gray in them now [09:24.51]Not blue [09:24.99] [09:25.49]And all he wanted was to make this crowd laugh, [09:28.15]That's all he wanted out of this world [09:29.61] [09:31.58]They were laughing alright, [09:32.35] [09:34.35]Not like the buke but they were laughing, [09:36.94] [09:37.58]And all the dough started coming in. [09:39.11]He was playing the big towns. [09:40.28] [09:41.04]Chicago, Detroit, and then it was Pittsburgh one night [09:44.59] [09:45.55]A real fine town Pittsburgh, you know. [09:48.04] [09:49.89]But three quarters way through his act, a rope broke, [09:52.10] [09:53.48]Down came the backdrop, right on the back of the neck, [09:56.39] [09:57.48]And he went flat and something broke, this was it. [10:06.22] [10:08.41]It hurt way down deep inside, he tried to get up. [10:10.83] [10:12.76]He looked out at the audience, [10:14.40]And you should've, man, you should've, [10:16.15]You should've seen that crowd. [10:17.40] [10:18.84]They was rolling in the aisle. [10:20.20] [10:22.45]This was bigger than the buke. [10:23.50] [10:24.54]This was bigger than the buke [10:25.96] [10:29.30]He really had them going, [10:30.25] [10:33.12]This was it, this was the last one, [10:35.94] [10:37.20]This was the last one. This was the last one. [10:46.80] [10:52.89]He knew now, man, he really knew now. [10:57.57] [11:00.96]But it was too late [11:01.89] [11:03.10]And all he had wanted was to make this crowd laugh, [11:04.91]Well they were laughing, But now he knew. [11:08.50] [11:13.99]That was the end of the clown. [11:14.97] [11:17.85]And you should have seen the bookings coming. [11:19.32] [11:21.03]Man, his agent was on the phone for 24 hours, [11:24.31] [11:25.61]The Palladium, MCA, William Morris. But it was too late [11:36.68] [11:38.36]He really knew now. [11:39.61] [11:40.22]He really knew. [11:41.66] [11:52.87]He really knew now. [11:53.73] [12:01.78]William Morris sent regrets [12:03.24]