"Circus"
Single by Lenny Kravitz
from the album Circus
ReleasedDecember 11, 1995 (1995-12-11)[1]
GenreRock
Length4:48
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)Terry Britten, Gerry DeVeaux, Lenny Kravitz[2]
Producer(s)Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz singles chronology
"Rock and Roll Is Dead"
(1995)		 "Circus"
(1995)		 "Can't Get You Off My Mind"
(1995)
Music video
Lenny Kravitz - Circus on YouTube

"Circus" is a song co-written and performed by American singer Lenny Kravitz and released on December 11, 1995, as the second single from his fourth studio album, Circus (1995). There were produced two music videos for the song: one directed by Ruven Afanador[3][4] and the other by Martyn Atkins.[5] Kravitz explained to Billboard, "it gets more like a circus with all this suff—management people, fans, bankers, investment people. It's like, My God! What happened? It gets harder to be yourself."[6]

Critical reception

Steve Baltin from Cash Box described "Circus" as "a slow blues-based rocker with a killer chorus, a smoking guitar solo near the end and a great fade out. Despite all that, it’s not immediately obvious what radio formats will embrace this heavy single."[7] Mark Kemp of Rolling Stone stated, "In the title track of Lenny Kravitz's new album, the singer struggles with the dictates of reality that come to bear on fantasy. "Welcome to the real world," he sings to himself. But in the real world according to Kravitz, rock stars still flash diamond rings and coke spoons, and bumper-sticker platitudes like god is love still soften the blows of the real real world."[8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Terry Britten, Gerry DeVeaux, Lenny Kravitz

No.TitleLength
1."Circus"4:48

Charts

Chart (1995–1996) Peak
position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[9] 85
Scotland (OCC)[10] 55
UK Singles (OCC)[11] 54

References

  1. ↑ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. December 11, 1995. p. 35.
  2. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (1995). "Circus - Lenny Kravitz | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  3. ↑ "Lenny Kravitz: Circus (Music Video) (1995)". FilmAffinity. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "Lenny Kravitz: Circus (Video 1995)". IMDb. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  5. ↑ "Lenny Kravitz: Circus - Version 2, 1996". КиноПоиск. kinopoisk.ru. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  6. ↑ Borzillo, Carrie (12 August 1995). "Kravitz delivers raw circus sound". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 23. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  7. ↑ Baltin, Steve (9 December 1995). "Pop Singles" (PDF). Cash Box. p. 7. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  8. ↑ Kemp, Mark (21 September 1995). "Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-11-04. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  9. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2851." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
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