Don't Kick the Clown

See the premiere performance! https://youtu.be/aUTTsfYmmC4?t=1085

Watching a set at Woodford festival
Sitting next to Linsey Pollak and best of all
We were hearing Wayne Freer playing trombone
I said, “damn, he’s good” with an disgruntled groan
Linsey gave me a look, like only Linsey could
And after a pause, he said, "Well, it's good that he's good"
I must've looked annoyed, 'cos he looked away
But when I swore some more, he then turned to say,
"Hey, when you see something that you admire,
You can let it threaten you or let it inspire you
It's your choice, you decide whether it
Is gunna make you wanna practice or make you wanna quit"
And with that, he sat back and left me to it
And I stewed on it, he was right and I knew it
Wayne and Linsey are great, yeah, the problem is me
Don't underestimate the depth of my insecurity
Many years later I reminded Linsey of it
He said, "I hope I didn't seem like a pompous git"
I said, "Nah, it was just what I needed at the time"
And I've paraphrased it all a bit to make it rhyme
He didn't leave me guessin', I'm proud to be confessin'
That Pollock / Freer moment was a potent double lesson

Don’t shoot the messenger
Don’t kick the clown
Don't blame the up side when it gets you down
I know it's not so easy and it could be true
That the ones you envy could be just as jealous of you

Once at a gig of my own, I felt off my eggs
Physically and mentally on my last legs
But Dr. Footlights put me right and got me through
My voice came to the party and the crowd went "woo!"
When I finished, up came an ebullient man
Who proudly announced he's my biggest fan
We had a nice chat about what he did
Then he said, "Gee, you must've been a horrible kid"
I tried to laugh it off and change the topic
But he got yucky to the point of misanthropic
I was struggling to respond to his nasty niggling
Like a comedy roast, but only he was giggling
Eventually I got away without being rude
But I rather empathised with that insulting dude
When under stress we all express affection curiously
Don't underestimate the depth of our insecurity

When Pollyanna tall poppies make you feel stroppy and crappy
Snipey, snippy and snappy, 'cos they happen to be happy

Don’t shoot the messenger
Don’t kick the clown
Don't blame the up side when it gets you down
I know it's not so easy and it could be true
That the ones you envy could be just as jealous of you

We're all putting on a show to some degree
Don't underestimate the depth of our insecurity

©Mal Webb 2021

These are both true stories, although the second story has happened quite a few times, leading to the phrase, "don't kick the clown".
Linsey Pollak https://www.linseypollak.com and Wayne Freer are both legends and a fab friends. When I sent an early draft to Wayne, he responded:
"WHAT!!!! i was always thinkin "jeez wish i could sling the golden handbrake like Brother Mal" ... It is an honour indeed to be included thusly in your bop Sir".
He has a glorious way with words! And it led me to include the last line of the chorus: "That the ones you envy could be just as jealous of you". Linsey heartily approved of both Wayne's response and my repsonse to it.
Musically, it uses a 8 against 13  Malleable PolyPolyRhythm, which I've explained more at my MPPR page.

*Dr. Footlights comes to me courtesy of Dame Edna https://youtu.be/_A4wxnWxQ2A , although Barry Humphries didn't make up the concept.