Painted Smile
| "Painted Smile" | |
|---|---|
| Single by The Moody Blues | |
| from the album Long Distance Voyager | |
| A-side | "Gemini Dream" |
| Released | May 1981 |
| Recorded |
19 February 1980 - mid April 1981 |
| Length | 3:19 |
| Label | Polydor |
| Writer(s) | Ray Thomas |
| Producer(s) | Pip Williams |
"Painted Smile" is a 1981 song by the English progressive rock band The Moody Blues, first appearing on their 1981 album Long Distance Voyager. It was later released on the B-Side of "Gemini Dream."
Written by Ray Thomas, "Painted Smile" is the first in a suite of three songs that concludes the album. "Painted Smile" has a circus theme, and tells the story of a circus jester. Like many of Ray Thomas's earlier songs like "Another Morning" and "Floating", "Painted Smile" has a "child's world" theme in the sense that it tells the story in the perspective of a child.
After "Painted Smile," the suite continues into "Reflective Smile," which is a short spoken-word poem connecting the storylines from "Painted Smile" and "Veteran Cosmic Rocker." In the past, The Moody Blues had used spoken-word poetry on their albums which were usually written by drummer Graeme Edge, and were generally recited by either Edge himself or former keyboardist Mike Pinder. "Reflective Smile" is the only Moody Blues poem to have been written and recited by Ray Thomas.