John Hiatt's "Your Dad Did" could sum up a showman or anyone.

"You're a chip off the old block
Why does it come as such a shock
That every road up which you rock
Your dad already did".

Love the guy.

...the lyrics of 'Tears Of A Clown' by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.

Genesis' 'Duchess' may be relevant too in that it deals with a performer coping with their decline in popularity.

Van Morrison in moaning mood had a bit of a dig at company demands on artists in the song 'Professional Jealousy' with the lines "the only requirement is, to know what is needed,
be best at delivering the product on time". There have been more than enough examples of these sort of songs from Van though!!

Loudon Wainwright III's Career Moves.

Jackson Browne's ode to roadies contains more than a couple of lines that cut right to the essence of performance. But we're being brief, so I'll put forward these sentiments:

We just pass the time in our hotel rooms
And wander round backstage
'Til those lights come up and we hear that crowd
And we remember why we came

Welcome my son, welcome to the machine.
Where have you been? It's alright we know where you've been.
You've been in the pipeline, filling in time,
provided with toys and Scouting for Boys.
You bought a guitar to punish your ma,
And you didn't like school, and you know you're nobody's fool,
So welcome to the machine.
Welcome my son, welcome to the machine.
What did you dream? It's alright we told you what to dream.
You dreamed of a big star, he played a mean guitar,
He always ate in the Steak Bar. He loved to drive in his Jaguar.
So welcome to the machine.

About a band wondering whether they've hit their peak and the only way is down:

"When everything was over
and we loaded up the van
I turned and said to Dan,
Dan, I guess this is our prime
like they tell us all the time
weren't you expecting some other kind?"

Marvellous stuff.

"Into The Great Wide Open".
"The a&r man said I don't hear a single."

I really like what I've heard of the Beau Brummels, and I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Cilla Black's recording of I've Been Wrong Before.

I am sure DH was referencing this Jesse Winchester song, most recently available on Buddy Miller's fantastic "Midnight and lonesome"......

A showman's life,
Is a smokey bar,
And the fevered chase,
Of a tiny star,
It's a hotel room,
And a lonely wife,
From what I've seen,
Of a showman's life,

Nobody told me about this part,
They told me all about the pretty girls,
And the wine,
And the money,
And the good times,
There's no mention of,
All the wear and tear,
On an old honky tonker's heart,
Well I might of known it,
But nobody told me about this part,

A boy will dream,
As children do,
Of a great white way,
Until the dream comes true,
And a phony smile,
In a colored light,
Is all there is,
To a showman's life,
Nobody told me about this part,

Nobody told me about this part,
They told me all about the pretty girls,
And the wine,
And the money,
And the good times,
There's no mention of,
All the wear and tear,
On an old honky tonker's heart,
Well I might of known it,
But nobody told me about this part,

Well I might of known it,
But nobody told me about this part

I guess Queen's "These Are The Days Of Our Lives" and "Show Must Go On" tell us a lot about Freddie's illness.
"My make up may be failing etc"

I still think Dury's line about "First night nerves every one night stand" neatly sums up the experience of facing a different audience in a different town every night.

The whole song disects the 'business' and its inherent contradictions, but this lyric probably applies to us all at some level:

"I guess I seem ungrateful
With my teeth sunk in the hand
That brings me things
I really can't give up just yet"

My vote for the ultimate maudlin drivel about being a trouper:

Oh, my music makes you dance
And gives you spirit to take a chance
And I wrote some rock 'n' roll so you can move
Music fills your heart
Well, that's a real fine place to start
It's from me, it's for you
It's from you, it's for me
It's a worldwide symphony

- "I Write The Songs" by Bruce Johnston.

He won a Grammy for that.

The Albion Band from their 1990 album called, um, 1990. Can't find the lyrics, but a similar recall and recap of the buzz followed by the anticlimax of live performance. Glorious John Tams vocals, returning as a guest after having left some years before. Still one of the warmest voices in folk, even if my daughter feels suicidal at his name, let alone his timbre. Good self deprecating live show too, usually solo these days or with Barry Coope.

...blows away any notion of a glamorous and exciting life on the road.

"It was a five-band bill,
A two-dollar show.
I saw the van out in front
From Idaho,

And the girl passed out
In the backseat trash.
There were no way they'd make
Even a half a tank of gas.

They looked sick and stoned
And strangely dressed.
No one showed
From the local press.

But I watched them walk
Through the bottom land,
And I wished that I played
In a rock & roll band."

Everything Is Free, on the same album (Time The Revelator), appears to lament the rise of illegal filesharing.

...I was sick and tired of everythiiiiiiiing
When I called you last night from Glasgow
All I do is eat and sleep and siiiiiiiing
Wishing every show was the last show.

Wise words mate.

Amongst many others....

1) Falling in love with the idea of becoming a pop star:

I touched you at the soundcheck
You had no real way of knowing
In my heart I begged "Take me with you ...
I don't care where you're going..

2) Misplaced ambition:

"But somebody's got to make it !" she screams
"So why why can't it be me ?"

3) But You make it:

Fame, fame fatal fame it can play hideous tricks on the brain

4) But not for long. Others start to pass you by:

We hate it when our friends become succesful

5) And Your audience outgrows you:

The teenagers, who love you, they will wake up, yawn and kill you

So don't let the blue, the blue eyes fool you
They're just gelignite, loaded and aiming right between your eyes

6) Where that leaves you:

A star at eighteen
And then - suddenly gone
Down to a few lines
In the back page
Of a faded annual

7) The comeback - a fish out of water (aka nobody asked me to appear on X factor):

it's just more lock jawed pop stars
Thicker than pig shit, Nothing to convey
They're so scared to show intelligence
It might smear their lovely career

8) And in the end:

At the record company meeting
On their hands - a dead star
And oh, the plans they weave
And oh, the sickening greed

People ask me questions 'bout the way I've lived my life
50 years in showbiz, only had one wife
Limousenes ans swimming pools, I never got my share
I'm not downhearted
I am not downhearted
I'm not downhearted but I'm getting there

Mose Allison

Life's been good/Joe Walsh.
It sure has, buddy!

Jill Sobule's song Freshman conveys the hand-to-mouth existence of a musician nearer the business end of the food chain than some of the examples already given. The whole song is a peach, but the two little lines that really nail the reality, perhaps as explained to a starry-eyed friend, are:

I bet you didn't know
I don't make much for this show

My Kickass Life

Got a show tonight
It's gonna pay my rent
And what I got left over
Baby, it's all been spent
But there's no cover charge for me
I'm in the band
I'm the man with the goldtop in my hand

It's my kickass life
It's my kickass life
It's my kickass life
No matter how good it gets
It could always get better

Another honey to have
Another mile to go
So let's go
Let the punks be punks
So I can play that rock ‘n' roll
You know that through it all
I can see through the smoke and the lights
It's all bullshit baby, but I do it night after night after night

It's my kickass life
It's my kickass life
It's my kickass life
No matter how good it gets
It could always get better
(Repeat)

no explanation necessary - just listen!

The UK's most miserable band did not find fame to their liking, as evidenced by this autobiographical spoken word mumble.

"Up to Sunset
We creep up the drive to the Shattuck
The suite Belushi died in
or the one Morrison hung out of the window.
Oh, I'll go for Jim's
I would fancy a little window-hanging myself, tonight, man
Straight over to the mini-bar
Open the champagne -- one sip and it's left to wake up to."

Swans - Deflowered: Jarboe's melodramatic attack on the women who turn their independence over to the record industry and whose compromised rise to stardom comes at the expense of their femininity. A distaff version of The Byrds' - So You Want To Be A Rock & Roll Star.

"If you wanna be the star
just get the big guitar
A pair of leather jeans
lends credibility
Make all the critics cream
just get down on your knees
learn how to scream and seize
every "opportunity"
You'll make them beg for it
you're one tough rockin' bitch
You got a lot to show
on college radio
So drop all the petals soft as velvet
Tear up your petals moist and delicate
Flower petals soft as velvet
Rip up the petals moist and delicate
They're falling."

Reverend Horton Heat - That's Showbiz: Jim Heath's sour assessment of his chosen profession.

"You work 689 days in a row,
6 shows a day,
15 Minute breaks,
Is that showbiz?

No matter how bad you feel,
You could have a fever and the dry heaves
from that left handed cigarette
and shot of old crow you did between the first and second show.

You could have a social disease you caught
from some platinum blonde bombshell in Boise.
You could feel bad because you lost your wallet, your dog, your best friend
Or even your wife.

And no matter how bad you feel,
when those house lights go down,
a smile lights up your face
Why? 'cause that's showbiz.

You work, practice, woodshed,
suffer for your craft,
do the old soft shoe till your feet bleed
Sing mammy till your throat swells
All the while smiling though your face hurts.

You do this for ten years
and the day after the back page of some local rag says your great
you see somebody better, and younger than yourself
and he closes the show with a gag he stole from you,
and that's showbiz."

Waylon Jennings:

I'm a good old boy
You know my momma loves me
But she don't understand
They keep on showing my hands
And not my face on TV