"Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson. Noticeable climb from quiet to loud. layered composition, overlapping color planes. Mood: introspective, melancholy, reflective. Visual style: 1965 vintage painting aesthetic, warm aged tones. Painterly, grainy film texture, muted palette with strategic accent colors. The composition should read left-to-right like a timeline — calm on one side, intensifying toward the other. Strictly no faces, no text, no logos, no literal objects, no band imagery. Pure color-field abstraction with emotional weight. 16:9 editorial format."
Easy, low-key calm, right in the middle of 19,209 measured songs — measures out best for focus.
100
BPM
Tears of a Clown by Smokey Robinson is 100 BPM — Andante (walking pace).
Half-time 50 BPM · Double-time 200 BPM · released 1965
Fan image for "Tears of a Clown"
An abstract illustration of what this song feels like. Each image is built from a prompt — the text description fed to the image generator. Listeners submit their own prompts, upvote the ones that fit best, and the top-voted prompt drives the next regeneration. After 100 image votes, we make a new picture.
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Song DNA
Notes: The song features a smooth blend of orchestral elements and soft vocals, creating a warm and nostalgic atmosphere. The emotional delivery of the lyrics enhances its reflective quality.
Misophonia Triggers
Recommended for: deep listening emotional release relaxation
A poignant song that explores the contrast between outward appearances and inner sadness, delivered through Smokey Robinson's soulful voice.
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Hear it the way it was made
The right gear changes everything.
Moods: introspective, melancholy, reflective
Traditions: R&B, soul
At a glance
"Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson
100 BPM, dynamic range 6/10, layered texture, soft vocals. Sits in the middle band — neither built for stillness nor pitched at workout intensity. Whether it works for a given moment depends more on mood and lyrical content than on the acoustic profile. The full sensory breakdown follows.
How this song sits on each sensory axis
A dynamic range of 6/10 means this song moves. Expect a real volume climb between quiet sections and the loudest part of the arrangement — enough that you may want to set the initial volume below where you'd normally land.
Sudden changes: mild. There are one or two transitions worth knowing about, though they're musically resolved rather than surprise-driven.
Texture is layered — a full arrangement with clear separation between parts.
Predictability is medium — conventional structure overall, with one or two moments that deviate from what you'd expect.
Vocal style: soft vocals.
Where this sits in Smokey Robinson's catalog
We have 18 songs from Smokey Robinson in the library. Of those, 11 are rated Safe, 7 Moderate, and 0 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 6/10 sits above the artist average of 5.6, making it the #4 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.
Other tracks from Going to a Go-Go
We have 4 songs from this album. Overall, the album leans safe in sensory profile.
- Tracks of My Tears — safe DR 6
- Going to a Go-Go — safe DR 6
- Ooo Baby Baby — safe DR 6
1965 context
Released in 1965. We have 133 songs from that year in our library, averaging a dynamic range of 5.9/10. This track is about average than the year average. Explore more from the 1960s.
Explore by mood and tradition
How fast is "Tears of a Clown"?
100 BPM — Medium (midtempo / pop ballad)
For running
Too slow for most running; good for warm-up walks or cool-down.
For workouts
Steady cardio, power walking, light weights.
For daily life
Cooking, casual listening, cleaning, dinner music.
Browse more songs at 100 BPM.
When "Tears of a Clown" works, and when it doesn't
Use-case verdicts computed from the song's tempo, dynamics, and sensory profile.
~
Focus / studying
Maybe — fine for routine work, but the mid-song changes may pull attention during deep focus.
~
Running / workout
Maybe — at 100 BPM this is more warm-up or cool-down pace than peak-effort running.
✗
Sleep / winding down
No — contains elements that will keep an awake nervous system engaged.
✓
Driving / road trip
Yes — predictable enough for safe driving attention, interesting enough to stay engaged.
✓
Cooking / dinner background
Yes — sits in the background without demanding attention.
✓
Emotional release / catharsis
Yes — this is a song for actively feeling what you came to feel, not for background.
Related reading
Editorial guides that cover this song's use cases, moods, or artist.
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Why this rating
We rate this song Moderate because it falls between our Safe and Intense thresholds on at least one dimension. Moderate is the default for most well-produced music that has real arc but no surprise elements. Full rubric: methodology.
This song in the Music Studio
39/100 intensity
See how “Tears of a Clown” sits against your own sensitivities, or use it as a waypoint in a calmer set.
Listen on
Spotify and YouTube links go direct to the track when we have the ID; otherwise they search for it. Embed this sensory profile on your site →
Rating last reviewed: 2026-04-16. Reviewed by the Music I Want editorial team against the documented methodology.
Think this rating is wrong? Contact the editor — every message is read and ratings get revised.
By the numbers: how this song compares
Computed from this song’s place among the 19,209 songs we’ve measured.
Where it sits in 19,000 songs
On our 19k-song scale this lands in the middle band — more energetic than 32% of songs, calmer than the other 68%. Its intensity reading of 39/100 comes from a dynamic range of 6/10, layered texture, mild shifts, and soft vocals. It shares this stretch of the spectrum with thousands of other tracks, so the finer fingerprint below is what really separates it.
What makes it unusual
What stands out most about this song is an unusually steady, even volume: more extreme on that axis than 79% of everything we've measured. At the far opposite end of the library sit the songs built on full chaos — sudden changes, huge quiet-to-loud swings, and relentless energy — the kind of track this one is the counterpoint to.
Feels almost identical to
Don't Want You on My Mind — Bill Withers · 99%Falling — Haim · 99%Two More Bottles of Wine — Emmylou Harris · 99%Young Dumb Broke — Khalid · 99%
Closest matches by feel across all 19,209 measured songs — not by genre or artist, by how they actually move.
What it’s good for
Sleep6/10
Focus10/10
Workout2/10
Dinner8/10
Party / hype3/10
Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.
1965 in context
The 133 songs we’ve measured from 1965 average a dynamic range of 5.9/10. At 6/10, this track is right in line with its year.
Mixes smoothly with
Within a few BPM and close in feel — they flow without a jarring transition.
The fingerprint
Intensity39
Dynamics56
Tempo33
Surprise25
Density33
Predictability50
Vocal force25
Trigger load25
The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.
Frequently asked about "Tears of a Clown"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson?
"Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson has a tempo of 100 BPM (Andante (walking pace)). At half-time that is 50 BPM, and at double-time 200 BPM.
What is the sensory intensity of "Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson?
"Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson rates as Moderate intensity. Dynamic range 6/10, mild sudden changes, layered texture. Moderate is the default for well-produced music with real arc but no surprise elements.
How loud is "Tears of a Clown" — what is its dynamic range?
"Tears of a Clown" has a dynamic range of 6/10. Noticeable climb from quiet sections to loudest point. Set opening volume slightly lower than your preferred peak.
Does "Tears of a Clown" have sudden or surprising changes?
"Tears of a Clown" has mild sudden changes — one or two transitions worth knowing about, but they are musically resolved rather than surprise-driven.
What is "Tears of a Clown" best for?
In our library "Tears of a Clown" is recommended for: deep listening, emotional release, relaxation. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
When was "Tears of a Clown" released?
"Tears of a Clown" is from 1965, on the album "Going to a Go-Go". It appears in our 1960s catalog.
What is the emotional mood of "Tears of a Clown"?
We tag "Tears of a Clown" as introspective, melancholy, reflective. Moods are tonal descriptors based on how the song reads emotionally — separate from the sensory intensity axes.
What is the vocal style of "Tears of a Clown"?
The vocal style is soft vocals.
Is "Tears of a Clown" good for running?
Not really — at 100 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.
Is "Tears of a Clown" good for studying?
Only partially. The song's dynamic range (6/10) means there will be loud moments that break focus during deep work.
Can I use "Tears of a Clown" for sleep?
Not recommended for sleep. Contains transitions that will wake you up.
Should I listen to "Tears of a Clown"?
"Tears of a Clown" is Moderate intensity — fine for most listeners, but with enough dynamic activity that it works best as active listening rather than background.
Songs with the same DNA
layered texture, similar intensity — across any genre or era.
Safer alternatives with a similar feel
These songs share similar moods but with a gentler sensory profile.
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Where to next?
You know how this one feels — now go find the next one.