Hot Air Balloon
Liner Notes
This started as a fun pop song idea with the hot air balloon image appearing early on in the random first lyrics. Then it kinda morphed into the "hot air balloon" as a metaphor for our warming planet, and a playful, though genuine appeal to take care of our planet!...which is our body! I'm having fun trying out new "mystery" chord shapes and ideas on the ukulele! So the lyrics are kind of attempting a lot in a folk/pop/rock (?) song format. I think I feel a little inspired by Tom Petty here somehow. Hopeful it works, or at least it's something to be worked up with a little more polish. But seriously, let's do patch up our hot air balloon, ourselves, and our amazing green and blue planet!
#folk #pop #acousticonetake #demo #rock #ukulele #tenorukulele #singersongwriter
Lyrics
Hot Air Balloon
It’s gonna be a challenge It’s gonna be a challenge waking up You’re gonna need some balance You’re gonna need some balance in your cup
But you can put all of your eggs in one basket Fly a hot air balloon over the desert Even floating over this room the view is fantastic
Yeah it’s gonna be a challenge It’s gonna be a challenge, but you’re in luck! You’ve got so many talents You even know a gallon makes sixteen cups
So you can put all of your eggs in one basket fly a hot air balloon over the desert Learn to dance on the clouds with both feet and land it
It’s worth it, step into your own used shoes on this glorious planet take care of every square inch of you tell yourself you demand it for the sake of the planet…
Patch up your hot air balloon (x4)
Instrumental
It’s gonna be a challenge it’s gonna be a challenge rising up You know this body is our planet So we really oughta show it a lot of love
We can take a scrap from my shirt and this sweater, a piece of your skirt, now that’s looking better, with elastic straps from my snow pants we’ll hold this all together
We’ve got a couple large bits from our childhood quilts, it’s hard to let go, but we need to so, take your pillow case with a super hero’s face for the road
It’s worth it, step into your own used shoes on this glorious planet Take care of every square inch of you See the view, it’s fantastic! Pick up the pieces at random…
And patch up this hot air balloon Step up, hold tight to the green and blue! Patch up this hot air balloon Step up, all in for the green and blue!
Instrumental outro
Comments
great drive to the uke and wonderfully rhythmical lyrics and delivery. great imagery too - especially the DIY ways of patching up the balloon :) great stuff!!
What a happy melody and lyric. It makes me smile. Very enjoyable song. You've got me tapping both feet. 😄 Great message too, while keeping it endearing. I love this song.
This is great, especially the line about our childhood quilt. Love the strumming and vocals, well done!
This is so uplifting! Such a great rhythm and bounce, with crystal clear vocals and a hell of a catchy hook!
These lyrics are great and what a hummable tune! The sweet ukelele gives it that hopeful feel to balance out the realities of the challenge of caring for our planet!
This is marvellous!! I love the images in the lyric. The buoyant hope, the infectious melody and that groovy syncopated rhythm. You really get a great dynamic range from that Uke. What a banger!
For me this one took on the feel of energetic frenetic parenting to youngish kids. I remember at one point trying to come up with all the kinds of transportation we could ride on the way to daycare, subway, bus, car, ferry, and yes hot air balloon. The balloon was just up and down in Central Park near the subway station, but unfortunately I didn’t get reservations in time. This body is your planet became a way to tell the kids about taking care of themselves. My version of that was the question “Do you want to do an experiment on your body?” and see what happens when you get multiple free refills on slurpees? They did and learned all kinds of valuable lessons.