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Yossi the Balloon Man

from Americana Comics by John John Brown

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lyrics

Family photos on the door
Burger wrappers on the floor.
He worked Coney Island til midnight
Yossi the Balloon Man the Italian widows call em’
To his mother he was the cutest in the world

It’s one more Sunday afternoon
Another cocktail at Lou’s
Yossi wonders how they make the liquor green
His balloon animals get the laughs
A pink poodle a blue giraffe
It’s hard to hold onto what’s gone

When it’s gone hmm hmm
Only love will bear the weight of moving on

It’s the spring of 44
He’s a child of the war
Torn from the basement of his family’s home

To a concentration camp
With a body cold and cramped
Separated from his mother by the train tracks

Knock on the barracks door
Where a man covered with sores
Is smuggling him a hard boiled egg

Saying, “Happy Birthday little boy
Your mother wished it could’ve been a toy
Take this blanket for your legs”
And a little salt for your hard boiled egg.”

And he was gone hmmm
Only love’ll bear the weight of movin’ on

On that Coney Island bench
where old hotdogs kick a stench
Yossi listens to the ocean’s lullaby
a pink poodle a butterfly
Pretty soon it’s lunchtime
by his heart’s a hard boiled egg


The high rollers in this town
They just see an old clown
As the ferris wheel goes round and round
While Yossi’s in his mind beneath an Auschwitz sky
Imagining his mother boiling water

With nothing to her name but her undying love
In the Atlantic wind he imagines her above she is saying

“Happy birthday my son you know you’ll always be my little one
Take this blanket for your legs and a little salt for your hard boiled egg
And when I’m gone know that love’ll bear the weight of moving on

Family photos on the door
Burger wrappers on the floor.
He worked Coney Island til midnight

credits

from Americana Comics, released January 10, 2021

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John John Brown New Milford, Connecticut

No Depression: "The Road is one of those albums that suggests Brown’s talents have been stirring for some time. A supple and suggestive blend of astute Americana accompanied by a quiet, reflective glow, these ten songs offer up an air of quiet contemplation and wistful contentment." - Lee Zimmerman ... more

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