My Gen X Playlist: Tears of a Clown – The English Beat

Daily writing prompt

What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time?

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I was listening to a podcast not too long ago and they were discussing RBF. I had no idea what that was, so I googled it. The first thing I found was “rat bite fever”. Uh, no. This couldn’t possibly be it. Needless to say, there is treatment for this if you ever get it.

I scrolled to the next explanation and found something that more fit the bill – “resting bitch face”. What? Is this a thing? It did fit the context of the podcast…

Resting bitch face (RBF) is a facial expression that unintentionally creates the impression that a person is angry, annoyed, irritated, or contemptuous, particularly when the individual is relaxed, resting, or not expressing any particular emotion.

– Wikipedia

Contrary to the “B” in RBF, this can apply to both male and females. One gender doesn’t own the market. It made me wonder if I had RBF, or if I exuded a sense of coldness when my face was “resting”. I had no idea, so of course, I looked in the mirror. Not the most scientific test, but hey, what else can I do. Yeah, there may be a 50/50 chance RBF kicked in without me knowing it. That made me think I should be a little more conscious of this. Maybe take my smile out of my back pocket a little more. This is probably not the most important thing to bring with me at all times, but something that is recently on top of mind. Smiling more never hurt anyone.

In 1979, The English Beat came out with a cover of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles’ Tears of a Clown. I’ve always loved this song because they took a ska twist to a classic soulful song and also the imagery of sadness hidden behind a smile. Yes, this may be on the different end of the spectrum than RBF, but when I thought about songs with a smile, this one immediately came to mind. I don’t tend to wear my raw emotions on my sleeve, so I imagine I may have Tears of a Clown syndrome as well. Oh man, double gut punch. Not only is there is a chance I have RBF, I may have TOC also. That’s way too much to think about on a Saturday morning. I much rather just sit back and enjoy the music.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Say oh yeah baby baby
Now if there's a smile on my face
It's only there tryin' to fool the public
But when it comes down to foolin' you
Now honey that's quite a different subject

So don't let my glad expression
Give you the wrong impression
Cos really I'm sad (so sad sad)
Oh I'm sadder than sad (so sad sad)
Well I'm hurt and I want you so bad (so sad sad)
Like a clown I appear to be glad

Ooh yeah
There's some sad things known to man
But ain't too much sadder than
The tears of a clown
When there's no one around

Say oh yeah baby baby baby
Oh yeah baby baby baby

Now if I appear to be carefree
It's only to camouflage my sadness
And honey to shield my pride I try
To cover this hurt with a show of gladness
So don't let my show convince you
That I've been happy since you decided to go
Oh I need you so