☝️ Key Points
- The song lyrics are about a strange experience where the singer encounters a man with balloons.
- The balloon man suddenly bursts and the singer gets sprayed with different objects.
- The singer laughs and cries as always, while the balloon man keeps exploding in his hand over and over again.
- The song lyrics address the unpredictability of life and transience.
- The repetition of the balloon man's explosions symbolizes dealing with unexpected events and losses.
Interpretation
The song lyrics "Balloon Man" by
Robyn Hitchcock are about a strange experience the singer had. He describes how he is walking along Sixth Avenue when suddenly a man with balloons approaches him. The man is round and fat and has a huge grin on his face. Before they can properly get to know each other, the balloon man suddenly bursts. The singer suspects that the man's name was probably Bruce.
Despite the unexpected incident, the singer laughs as he always does and cries as he cries for someone. The balloon man explodes directly in his hand. He is splattered with tomatoes, hummus, chickpeas, and some strips of skin. The singer then turns right onto 44th Street and washes his hands when he gets home.
It's raining like a slow divorce and the singer wishes he could ride. But the balloon man explodes again in his hand.
Later, the singer tells that there were many balloon men in Bryant Park and that's why he didn't feel uncomfortable. There seems to be a plague of them when he comes home late and sees them on the television. They're eating marshmallows and jumping off the Empire State Building.
The singer laughs again and cries as he always does while the balloon man explodes again in his hand.
Overall, the song lyrics seem to address different themes such as the unpredictability of life and transience. The balloon man symbolizes something that suddenly appears and disappears just as quickly. The repetition of the balloon man's explosions could indicate that the singer has to deal with unexpected events and losses.