Every night step on stage And do my best to engage Folks that won't look me in the eye Every night I lay awake And think about the things I say Wonder if they heard my best line Sometimes I think I have it made And the audience has stayed To hear me out and hear my songs But most times to no surprise The empty look behind their eyes Sells me out and tells me I was wrong And that is why, even us happy clowns cry All I wanna do is make em laugh But my heart slowly breaks in half As another song goes unheard I do best to make 'em smile They get and inch for mile And take a piece of me with every turn Another bar, another town, Another drink I hurry down It's gettin' harder now to see the light. Another 13 hours to go. To play another empty show Hopin' I can pay the band tonight And that is why, even us happy clowns cry Even on the better nights, When the bar is full and band is tight And the people are dancing, I'm feelin' proud All it takes is a memory To come chasin' after me To make you feel alone in the crowd I wonder how my sweethearts been And she wonder if I'm behavin' Or did I finally wind up in jail I know I won't be gone that long And she'll be fine all on her own So I paint on my smile. pour out my heart. Pack up my gear and hit the trail And that is why, even us happy clowns cry