In an interview today, I got to ask Matt Berninger (Thanks Jen!) about this song. Basically what he said was it was based on an actual event in his life between him and a friend. The song is about a friend who was in a tough situation and Matt, trying to be a good friend, gave him advice. However, this advice only lead his friend off in the opposite direction and ultimately brought even worse results. He said he felt terrible afterwards and just had this sinking guilt that was hanging over his head.
I think it's a situation everyone can relate to. When you bring a friend in the wrong direction you have nervous panic weighing down on you. And if it's bad enough, it's all you can think about, wondering if there's anything you can do or say to make things better.
Matt never said exactly what the situation was or it's results, nor did he say whether him and his friend ended up alright.
As far as the "balloon man" goes. I asked him and he said that he was referring to himself when he said "that man's a balloon", meaning that he felt sort of "like an airhead" or foolish for giving him bad advice.
In an interview today, I got to ask Matt Berninger (Thanks Jen!) about this song. Basically what he said was it was based on an actual event in his life between him and a friend. The song is about a friend who was in a tough situation and Matt, trying to be a good friend, gave him advice. However, this advice only lead his friend off in the opposite direction and ultimately brought even worse results. He said he felt terrible afterwards and just had this sinking guilt that was hanging over his head.
I think it's a situation everyone can relate to. When you bring a friend in the wrong direction you have nervous panic weighing down on you. And if it's bad enough, it's all you can think about, wondering if there's anything you can do or say to make things better.
Matt never said exactly what the situation was or it's results, nor did he say whether him and his friend ended up alright.
As far as the "balloon man" goes. I asked him and he said that he was referring to himself when he said "that man's a balloon", meaning that he felt sort of "like an airhead" or foolish for giving him bad advice.
Anyways, I hope this helps.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Wow that is really cool thanks. God I love this website.
Wow that is really cool thanks. God I love this website.
Can we read this interview somewhere?
Can we read this interview somewhere?