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Balloon Boy: A Short Song

2009-10-22 · Hank · watch on YouTube · Pop culture · comedy performance

Hank sings a comic song in the Balloon Boy's voice mocking the hoax and the father's hunger for TV fame, defers his analysis of hoaxes to the next day, and announces his album This Machine Pwns n00bs.

What is said

00:00:00 — Song sung as the Balloon Boy: hiding in a box, the attic, puking on national news, another TV show, Wife Swap in jail

  • ★★★ Singing as the Balloon Boy, Hank has him say everyone thought he was in the balloon while he hid in a box; his dad 'needs a shrink', and now he's famous too. (satire) — 00:00:00 > «you thought I was in a balloon, but I was hiding in a box»
  • ★★ The song says the dad cut the balloon loose and called the Colorado local news; viewers feared the boy might die while he was in the attic, and he puked on national news. (satire) — 00:00:58
  • ★★ In the song the boy notes everyone wants his dad taken away for contributing to his delinquency, and asks whether they'll ever get another TV show. (satire) — 00:01:40

00:02:09 — Insights deferred to tomorrow: hoaxes are nothing new

  • ★★ Hank says he'll save what Balloon Boy tells us about America for tomorrow, when he thinks he'll talk about hoaxes being nothing new. (hedged) — 00:02:09
  • ★★ Hank says there's probably no reason to be surprised, since such hoaxes have happened hundreds of times since news media began. (hedged) — 00:02:09

00:02:45 — P.S.: new album This Machine Pwns n00bs: title from Woody Guthrie and a YouTube commenter, November 16 release, 17 songs; Twitter and DailyBooth

  • ★★★ Hank announces that 'This Machine Pwns n00bs', written on his guitar, is the title of his new album, and shows its cover. — 00:02:45
  • ★★ Hank says the title rips off Woody Guthrie's 'This Machine Kills Fascists' and a YouTube commenter who wrote 'That machine pones noobs', whom he thanks for naming the album. (playful) — 00:02:45 · YouTube
  • ★★★ Hank hopes to release the album on November 16, about a month away; it has 17 songs, none duplicates or talking tracks. (hedged) — 00:03:15
  • ★ Hank will probably post the track list on Twitter (twitter.com/hankgreen) and says viewers can also follow him on DailyBooth. (hedged) — 00:03:15 · Twitter

Humor (dominant)

  • Everyone watching TV thought the boy might die up in the balloon... — 00:00:58 > «But the attic was as close as it got to the sky»
  • The next day the boy was on the national news... — 00:00:58 > «And they asked me why I hid and so I puked»
  • Sung as the boy: the kids at school keep telling him a tale about his dad... — 00:01:40 > «About how wife swap has a different meaning in jail»
  • Hank's album title rips off Woody Guthrie's guitar slogan 'This Machine Kills Fascists'... — 00:02:45 > «which I've taken to a different, though not greater, level.»

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