In 1994, a year after The Juliet Letters, Elvis Costello released his most rocking album since 1986’s Blood & Chocolate. Not coincidentally, it was also his first album since Blood & Chocolate recorded with The Attractions.
That album, Brutal Youth, is the best thing Costello recorded in the 90s, a decade that saw him jumping all over the map artistically. I rank Brutal Youth in the second tier of great Costello albums, below my holy trinity but in the mix with great records such as Trust and This Year’s Model.
Indeed, Brutal Youth is a sort of “grown-up” version of one of those albums, with less visceral, more cerebral songwriting but just as much venom and bile. The album sounds to me like Costello proving to himself that he can tear loose but not quite sure if he really wants to.
And that isn’t a bad thing. In fact, the more restrained songs on Brutal Youth are some of its best moments.
Take ‘Clown Strike,’ another of those Costello songs that feels perfectly right even though I can’t make any sense of its lyrics. The combination of the shuffling circus yard melody, those wonderful backing vocals and the imagery of clowns on strike make this one of the most fun listens since ‘Chewing Gum.’
The only hint Costello gives as to the song’s meaning is a reference in the liner notes to a “disastrous and bungled affair.” I guess that works for me. But he could have said it was about a contentious Parliamentary session and that would have worked for me as well.
Sometimes meaning doesn’t matter. Send in the clowns…
And cover you up with petals
And hang you up with some amber beads
And four or five precious metals
And in that black flamingo chair
You’ll sit among her trophies
And pray to be abandoned
Till you don’t know what hope is
CHORUS:
But there’s one thing that I had to keep inside
Because I was shaking
Why don’t you get some pride
There was a clown strike
And the clowns threw down their tools
But you don’t have to play so hard
And I’m nobody’s fool
You don’t have to go so far
‘Cause I love you as you are
The big top is deserted now
And the circus girl rehearses
She knows how to turn their heads
And not fall between two horses
But all that seems a simple step
If only I were able
To love you like I want to do
And not by some times table
CHORUS
And it’s pandemonium
For the humble and the mighty
You don’t have to tumble for me
Even a clown knows when to strike
Tell me what you want of me
Or are you terrified of failure?
You put on a superstitious face
Behind all this paraphernalia
We’re not living in a masquerade
Where you only have three wishes
It isn’t easy to see
In a lifetime of mistaken kisses
CHORUS
In this pandemonium
For the humble and the mighty
You don’t have to tumble for me
Even a clown knows when to strike
Meet Me In Montauk 
I agree that this is a very good album, though I would still rank Spike higher:)
Love this song–one of the best on the album. great infusion of pop, jazz and R&B all wrapped up with Elvis’ great lyrics.