A Balloonist's Lesson in Romanticism

"The Balloonist" was written in the latter days of 2012. This would have been right around the time I was discovering Mark Knopfler. Knopfler, in particular his post-Dire Straits work, is incredibly adept at building quiet stories around quiet characters and making them land in fun, meaningful, and unexpected ways. A song like "Secondary Waltz" tells the story of a grade school class learning to waltz with a crazy instructor ("McIntyre's out of the army/you'll be slippered if you get it wrong"). It builds a funny, touching scene of a bunch of awkward grade schoolers trying to learn this skill under constant pressure from this nutjob while also navigating the ultimate anxiety jump: "This time we're gonna' do it with girls," our poor narrative sings. The story unfolds over several verses without any sign that we are going to leave that gymnasium; we think this funny story of mild childhood trauma is the story. That is until the final section comes out of nowhere: When you come to my…