There was a time, the laughing time
I took my heart to every party
They'd point my way
"How are you today?"
"Will you make us laugh? Chase our blues away?"
Their funny man won't let them down
No, he'd dance and prance and be their clown
That time, the laughing time
When even a fool learns to love

The clown turned around
And saw her smile, Oh how she loved me
She'd clap her hands and beg me stay
To make her laugh, to make her life gay
Who wants the love of all the world
When here was love in the eyes of just one girl
That day, that precious day
When even a fool learns to love

But Oh, how I dreamed, a marvelous dream
Where all of the heavens or so it had seemed
With thunderous applause looked down from above
On a clown and an angel so much in love
I'll stay with my dream, it takes such a dream
And even a fool learns to love

That day, that hateful day
The joke turned stale, the game was over
Those spiteful words "Oh, go away. Who wants to play?"
"It's getting late now."
My world, my funny world
Had lost its mask and shown a broken heart
A time, a sour time
When even a fool learns to love

But Oh, how I dreamed, a marvelous dream
Where all of the heavens or so it had seemed
With thunderous applause looked down from above
On a clown and an angel so much in love
I'll stay with my dream, it takes such a dream