"Death of a Clown" is a song by Dave Davies, lead guitarist of British rock band the Kinks, which was released as his debut solo single in 1967.

Nicky Hopkins played the distinctive introduction, using fingerpicks on the strings of a piano.

In an interview with Yahoo!, Dave Davies said that "Death of a Clown" was written about the repetitive performing schedule he and the rest of the Kinks worked through.

I went back to me mum's house with the same old out-of-tune piano and I plunked out three notes, and it turned into the song.

When subsequent singles were met with less success, the idea was set aside until 1980, with his debut album being AFL1-3603.