ROBYN HITCHCOCK
c 2017
BALLOON MAN
ROBYN HITCHCOCK & THE EGYPTIANS
from the 1988 A&M Records LP Globe of Frogs
BALLOON MAN
I was walking up Sixth Avenue
When Balloon Man came right up to me
He was round and fat and spherical
With the biggest grin I'd ever seen
He bounced on up toward me
But before we could be introduced
He blew up very suddenly
I guess his name was probably Bruce
And I laughed
Like I always do
And I cried
Like I cried for you
And Balloon Man blew up
In my hand
He spattered me with tomatoes, hummus,
Chick peas and some strips of skin
So I made a right on Forty-Fourth
And I washed my hands when I got in
And it rained
Like a slow divorce
And I wished
I could ride a horse
And Balloon Man blew up
In my hand
I was walking up Sixth Avenue
When Balloon Man blew up in my face
There were loads of them on Bryant Park
So I didn't feel out of place
There must have been a plague of them
On the TV when I came home late
They were guzzling marshmallows
And then jumping off the Empire State
And I laughed
Like I always do
And I cried
Like I cried for you
And Balloon Man blew up
In my hand
Balloon Man blew up
In my hand
Words and music
Robyn Hitchcock
© 1988 Two Crabs Music (PRS)
It's unfortunately easy to understand why Balloon Man failed to become a massive Top 40 hit when it was released in 1988. For a start, it doesn't contain the word 'love' and is completely devoid of even the vaguest suggestion of sentimentality or cliché. The weird little tale it tells has a decidedly psychedelic flavour that's made palatable to the listener by being cleverly combined with humour (which may explain why it became so popular on US college radio) and an infectiously catchy melody. There's a marvellous cartoonishness about Hitchcock's imagery that allows him to constantly defeat the listener's expectations by inserting words and concepts — 'spherical, 'Bruce,' '…spattered me with tomatoes, hummus, chick peas and some strips of skin' — that are as odd as they are arresting. The rollicking chorus is impossible to forget, containing one of the most strikingly original images — 'And it rained, like a slow divorce' — I have personally encountered in a contemporary pop song. In fact, I can't think of the word 'divorce' now without automatically pairing it with the word 'rain.' How's that for some powerful mnemonics!
The good news is that Robyn Hitchcock is alive and well and living in the US city of Nashville where he continues to record fascinating, thought-provoking and gorgeously melodic music of the same consistently high quality. His latest vocal LP Shufflemania! was released in October 2022 and showed no diminishment of his considerable gift for penning a memorable tune or lyrics that continue to impress with their rigorous avoidance of everything that is shallow, trite and obvious. Some critics insist that he deserves to be more famous than he is, but I don't know that I agree with that. Fame veers toward the banal and Hitchcock's music has always been the antithesis of banality. It is witty, engaging, insightful and, on occasion, deeply moving and has been since his debut LP A Can of Bees, recorded when he was a member of the Canterbury-based band The Soft Boys, was released well over forty years ago.
Use the link below to listen to more great music by English singer/songwriter ROBYN HITCHCOCK, including tracks from his first-ever instrumental LP Life After Infinity released in May 2023:
Special thanks to those who take the time to upload music to YouTube. Your efforts are appreciated by music lovers everywhere.
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