Songfacts®:

• "Circo Inferno" is part of Steve Hackett's semi-autobiographical concept album The Circus And The Nightwhale. He first uses the circus metaphor on the album to describe his time with Genesis (1971-1977), and he revisits it on "Circo Inferno," which takes place after he's left the band and gotten married.
  
  "It's back to the idea of the circus, and the circus going round and round, fast and furious," Hackett explained in a Songfacts track by track. "All the soloing is furiously fast, so it's music salvos being fired."
• The song clocks in at a very compact 2:30, not what you'd expect from Hackett. "I tried to keep everything fairly brief so it didn't outstay its welcome," he said. "This is why the album is 45 minutes. Normally, I'd do something much longer than that, but there was an intention to be brief, succinct, and to the point."
• Hackett's longtime keyboard player, Roger King, wrote this song with him. Hackett played most of the instruments himself, including the mandolin. Rob Townsend played the saxophone.