Editing Lisa's First Word (section)

==="Can't sleep, clown will eat me"===
[[File:Lisa's First Word.jpg|thumb|Young Bart in his clown bed, poorly constructed by Homer]]
Inspired by an event in ''The Simpsons'' writer Mike Reiss' childhood,<ref name="Kirkland"/>{{sfn|Reiss & Klickstein|2018|p=68}} young Bart does not want to give up sleeping in the crib to make way for his newborn sister. Noticing Bart's affection for [[Krusty the Clown]] but unable to afford a professionally built Krusty-themed bed, Homer decides to build a clown-themed bed himself to please his son. However, because of Homer's poor handicraft skills, the bed takes on an [[Evil clown|ominous appearance]] and frightens Bart, especially in his darkened bedroom. In his first night in the new bed, far from "laughing himself to sleep", Bart imagines that the face on the [[Headboard (furniture)|headboard]] of the bed comes to life, intoning with evil glee, "[[Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep|if you should die before you wake...]]", before bursting into evil cackling.

The next morning, Bart is curled up into the [[fetal position]] on the floor next to the sofa downstairs, repeatedly uttering the phrase "can't sleep, clown will eat me..." The line inspired the [[Alice Cooper]] song "Can't Sleep, Clowns Will Eat Me" from the 2001 album ''[[Dragontown]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/AT/lib00059,117508302B023D18.html |title=Some pop culture creations demonize the red-nosed men |access-date=2008-01-19 |date=2007-02-15 |work=[[Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]}}</ref> The phrase has since found its way into popular use.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7191721.stm |title=Why are clowns scary? |first=Finlo |last=Rohrer |access-date=2022-01-15 |date=2008-01-16 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |archive-date=March 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307081454/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7191721.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

When Homer and Marge must leave for the hospital for Lisa's birth, they leave Bart in the care of Ned Flanders. Bart finds himself bored at the Flanders' house and wants to go home, but quickly changes his mind when he sees the clown bed in his bedroom window. When Bart attempts to run away, the bed appears in his bedroom again. The bed appears again in the episode "[[The Kids Are All Fight]]", where it eventually falls apart.