Meandering thoughts on Balloon Man
I attended a show by Richard Shindell tonight, which was absolutely marvelous (and the opening act Confoundry was wonderful as well; I loved their version of "She Moved Through the Fair", and they had an original song, "Watching Swans" which was just wow). The final song of Richard's regular set was "Balloon Man", from his latest album "Not Far Now". He'd nearly forgotten to play it, due to him talking about Buenos Aires turning into him singing the only Spanish song he's ever written, but luckily a member of the audience reminded him.All kinds of wonderful songs got played this evening, and the breadth of this guy's song writing reminds me a bit of Jane Siberry (where a song like "Get Up Clara" would be the equivalent of "Bessie" (and sorry, it's okay if you don't know either song, I'm just getting sidetracked here)), but it was Balloon Man which really struck a chord, and has been playing through my mind for the last hour and a bit (*gulps and looks at the time and just *knows* he's going to regret taking the time to write this come tomorrow early morning*).
Balloon Man is a song about a local character living in Buenos Aires, selling balloons with the help of an elaborately constructed rig, who has been doing this for at least a decade and a half, and is thus pretty much a fixture of the place (I'm thinking the same scale as "the wizard" in Christchurch and similar characters). Richard, living in Buenos Aires, and having this amazing songwriting capability, has immortalized him, painting a wonderfully distinct picture with just a few carefully placed strokes of words. And so in the song he describes balloon man's raggedness, and his rig ("a marvel of equipoise"), and his perseverance. And interspersed with that is the refrain...
quote:
and you're so far away...and I just love that. This, this right here is what it's all about. This is why I love travel so much, and keep doing it (well, this and two score other things, but for now let's just focus on this). We're all living these mundane (frequently wonderful) lives of everyday small worries and cares (and sunshine and friendship and things which make one laugh in pure delight), with horizons which most days barely cover the distance from home to work. And then you're reminded of just how vast this world stretches beyond that horizon, and how many more totally mundane wonders it holds, just waiting for us to discover by travelling through it and paying attention.
on the other side of the world
I just thought you should know
that balloon man lives in it too
Argentina was already on my list of countries to visit and explore in depth, but I shall now have to make a point of it to linger for a week or two in Buenos Aires when I'm there, and see if I might not spot balloon man for myself. I also know, though, that it matters not if I never make it to Buenos Aires after all. Balloon Man has an infinite number of cousins, and I know I'll get to recognize many of them in the months and years to come. And I know that from now on, I'll always think "balloon man" to myself, and smile.
So, yeah... I just thought you should know. This world you're living in? Balloon Man lives in it too.