To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Los Lobos' 1992 LP Kiko, the band has released a revamped version of the album on Shout! Factory, with demos, live recordings and new liner notes. There's also a DVD, Kiko Live, that includes this version of "When the Circus Comes" from a show the band performed February 24th, 2006, at San Diego's House of Blues.

"'When The Circus Comes' is the story of two lifelong friends who have a falling out over something really stupid and risk losing all the history they have together," Los Lobos drummer and guitarist Louie Perez says. 

He has a clear memory of recording the album version of the song, too. "It was a magical thing that Tchad Blake and Mitchell Froom spun in the studio with us," Perez says. "Everything just came together. David [Hidalgo] was in studio just getting sounds out of the guitar and amp, but ended up recording the song – they said, 'You're done!'"