TrigunBebop Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 (edited) At the beginning of the song, a bag of balloons is bought. Most normal balloons are packaged in multiples of 5 or in fractions of a gross. 99 is neither a multiple of 5 nor a fraction of a gross, so why are there only 99 red balloons? Shouldn't there be 100? Did they buy a 100 count bag and get shortchanged by 1 balloon? Did 1 balloon have a leak in it? Did one balloon pop during inflation? Hell, did they buy a gross bag of shitty balloons and wind up with 45 defective ones? What the hell happened to the extra balloon(s)? I need to know. Edited October 7, 2018 by TrigunBebop
TrigunBebop Posted October 7, 2018 Author Posted October 7, 2018 Just now, Mini_Ghost said: what? Where are the undocumented balloons? O__O 1
tsar4 Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 Maybe they'd already bought some balloons or they had some left over from a party & pooled them together with the recently bought ones.
Mini_ghost420 Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 1 minute ago, TrigunBebop said: Where are the undocumented balloons? O__O something happened to them
TrigunBebop Posted October 7, 2018 Author Posted October 7, 2018 2 minutes ago, tsar4 said: Maybe they'd already bought some balloons or they had some left over from a party & pooled them together with the recently bought ones. Why didn't they mention that in the song then? It's an important part of the story, after all.
TrigunBebop Posted October 7, 2018 Author Posted October 7, 2018 1 minute ago, Mini_Ghost said: something happened to them I know something happened to them. I just need to figure out what that was. o_o
tsar4 Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 1 minute ago, TrigunBebop said: Why didn't they mention that in the song then? It's an important part of the story, after all. No, it really isn't.
TrigunBebop Posted October 7, 2018 Author Posted October 7, 2018 Just now, tsar4 said: No, it really isn't. It is to me D: Spoiler ... nah. I'm kidding.
Mini_ghost420 Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 Just now, TrigunBebop said: I know something happened to them. I just need to figure out what that was. o_o there's about 97 reasonable possibilities not including things like "magic"
TrigunBebop Posted October 7, 2018 Author Posted October 7, 2018 Just now, Mini_Ghost said: there's about 97 reasonable possibilities not including things like "magic" Or maybe... the balloon bandit took 'em!
Mini_ghost420 Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 Just now, TrigunBebop said: Or maybe... the balloon bandit took 'em! maybe... that just may be
TrigunBebop Posted October 7, 2018 Author Posted October 7, 2018 Just now, Mini_Ghost said: maybe... that just may be What if I told you.... I was the balloon bandit? o_o 1
Mini_ghost420 Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 Just now, TrigunBebop said: What if I told you.... I was the balloon bandit? o_o I'd tell you I already knew that then I'd take a sip from a Pepsi can
Bouvre Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 (edited) Maybe Germans have balloons in bags of 99. Maybe the sound of "ninety-nine" complements the melody significantly well, and so they went with it. Edited October 7, 2018 by Bouvre 1
PurgatoryGirl Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 It was an anti-war song, during the time of the Cold War Era. 1
TrigunBebop Posted October 7, 2018 Author Posted October 7, 2018 6 hours ago, Mini_Ghost said: I'd tell you I already knew that then I'd take a sip from a Pepsi can Hey you're drinking a balloon's favorite drink! pop >.> 1
TrigunBebop Posted October 7, 2018 Author Posted October 7, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Bouvre said: Maybe Germans have balloons in bags of 99. Maybe the sound of "ninety-nine" complements the melody significantly well, and so they went with it. I happen to order most of my balloons from a German shop run by a married looner couple. I can confirm they bag balloons the same way we do. >.> Edited October 7, 2018 by TrigunBebop 1
TrigunBebop Posted October 7, 2018 Author Posted October 7, 2018 1 hour ago, PurgatoryGirl said: It was an anti-war song, during the time of the Cold War Era. I know. It's just that one tiny detail about the number of balloons still bugs me. >.> 1
schmahxgn Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 (edited) What you have to keep in mind, is that is a fictional narrative that the song is based on air go there never were any balloons in real life That were released into the sky that caused a nuclear war . Edited October 7, 2018 by schmahxgn
Chapinator_X Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 It flows better with the song to sing “nine-ty-nine” instead of “a hun-dred” or “one hun-dred”
GuyBeardmane Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 Remember the song. They buy a bag of balloons, but they only let go of 99. Then the shit hits the fan and the world explodes. But the last few lines are "if I could find a souvenir, just to prove the world was here. Here it is, a red balloon, I think of you and let it go." She only let go of balloon 100 after the world died. 1 1
TrigunBebop Posted October 8, 2018 Author Posted October 8, 2018 19 hours ago, schmahxgn said: What you have to keep in mind, is that is a fictional narrative that the song is based on air go there never were any balloons in real life That were released into the sky that caused a nuclear war . It may be a fictional story, but fictional stories still should leave loose ends like that!
TrigunBebop Posted October 8, 2018 Author Posted October 8, 2018 16 hours ago, imchapp.in said: It flows better with the song to sing “nine-ty-nine” instead of “a hun-dred” or “one hun-dred” I know >.> I'm just being nit picky <.<
TrigunBebop Posted October 8, 2018 Author Posted October 8, 2018 15 hours ago, GuyBeardmane said: Remember the song. They buy a bag of balloons, but they only let go of 99. Then the shit hits the fan and the world explodes. But the last few lines are "if I could find a souvenir, just to prove the world was here. Here it is, a red balloon, I think of you and let it go." She only let go of balloon 100 after the world died. But in the song's intro, they hint at having let go of every balloon they had. O_O oh my god.... this song is lies!!! 1
Lasty Posted October 8, 2018 Posted October 8, 2018 At the end of the day, it's better for certain illusions to be maintained...
KimopoBotar Posted October 8, 2018 Posted October 8, 2018 The song doesn't say 99 until after they're in the air. I like @GuyBeardmane's theory. It made me think about it a different way and is plausible. She may have just held on to the last one. Originally i took it to mean they bought 99. Maybe it was like a bulk thing and they bought 99. Or it came that way. Or one popped. I never really figured it mattered. The only one that did was the one the found at the end, still intact, after everything else man built was ground to dust. 2
GuyBeardmane Posted October 8, 2018 Posted October 8, 2018 4 hours ago, TrigunBebop said: But in the song's intro, they hint at having let go of every balloon they had. O_O oh my god.... this song is lies!!! You and I in a little toy shop Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got Set them free at the break of dawn Til one by one, they are gone Back at base, bugs in the software Flash the message "something's out there" Floating in the summer sky As 99 red balloons go by Doesn't say they let ALL of them go, just says that one after another they're floating away. 2
Doom Metal Alchemist Posted October 8, 2018 Posted October 8, 2018 2 hours ago, GuyBeardmane said: You and I in a little toy shop Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got Set them free at the break of dawn Til one by one, they are gone Back at base, bugs in the software Flash the message "something's out there" Floating in the summer sky As 99 red balloons go by Doesn't say they let ALL of them go, just says that one after another they're floating away. I don't know the song well, but going by this, I would have to agree with Trigun's assessment that they hinted that they let them all go. "Til one by one, they are gone." 1
GuyBeardmane Posted October 8, 2018 Posted October 8, 2018 1 hour ago, Doom Metal Alchemist said: I don't know the song well, but going by this, I would have to agree with Trigun's assessment that they hinted that they let them all go. "Til one by one, they are gone." True it's implied they're all released, but since it's never explicitly stated all the balloons are released, then I'm sticking to my explanation.
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