The Pillows Calvero - the inspiration

The song Calvero from the Pillows' album Smile! was apparently inspired by the Charlie Chaplin film Limelight. Calvero, an aging clown, helps a ballerina find herself and has a bit of a comeback of his own before dying, the one and only time a Chaplin character dies on screen.

It has tones of passing the torch on, fading away etc. I'm rather glad I didn't know it when I first heard Smile! or I might have worried about the Pillows continuing

Anyway, check the cast list against the lyrics: Calvero, Neville Thereza etc. One of them "attempted suicide but survived" and afterwards, overcoming her hysterical paralysis exclaims "I'm walking! I'm walking!"

Hard to say if the song has any sort of message if anything, but the homage is evident.

Apologies to anyone who knew this. I only just figured it out Further reference: http://www.clown-ministry.com/Resources/limelight-charlie-chaplin.html