You have to pick the Chords:
(Only the strings you’ll hit while picking are written down, strings you don’t hit
are marked with a x)

Am x0x210
D 0xx230
D7 xxx010
G 5xx000
am11 xxx030
Em6 2xx005
F9 3xx010
G/F 3xx000
C x3x010
D6 x3x200
F+ 3xx100
Am x0x212
G 5xx005
Gm7 5xx004
G7 5xx003
F+7 x3x111
G/D x2x030
Em 2xx000
D x3x200
Dm 0xx053
Dm 0xx453
Dm 0xx353
Dm 0xx253
D 0xx234
A 2xx222

Intro: Am D Am D

The lights have gone dim, and the people are gone. And clown goes back into his caravan.
Hangs up his smile on a hook by the door And lets his ragged coat slip to the floor.
With the sound of the children’s [G/F]laughter Still ringing in his ears.
F+ Am D
Laughing ‘cause they’re happy, They laugh to hide their fears.
G Gm7 G7 Am
Clown loves the children For, like him, they fear.
F+7 G/D Em D G
The world does not exist tonight, And only the circus, Only the circus is real.
Dm Dm
As real as the elephants that trumpet in the ring. Real like the trapeze, see it swing.
Dm Dm
Real like the man who eats real fire, Real like the lady on the high wire.

La, la… D A D x2

But the people have gone, his identity gone. Clown peeps through he window of his caravan.
Clown puts on his coat and goes out the door. And the distant neon lights
They shine above the town. “It’s almost like a circus”, thinks clown.
Then half with fear And half with delight, Shivering, shaking.
Clown stands laughing, Clown stands laughing, Clown is laughing at the night.