"House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls" is a song by the Canadian singer-songwriter

the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

, from his debut mixtape, ''

House of Balloons ''House of Balloons'' is the debut mixtape by the Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd. It was released on March 21, 2011, by the artist's own record label XO (record label), XO. The mixtape was released for free on the Weeknd's website and wa ...

'' (2011). The Weeknd wrote the song with its producers,

Doc McKinney Martin "Doc" McKinney (born August 27, 1971) is a Canadian Americans, Canadian-American record producer and songwriter. He was formerly one half of the duo (now solo act) Esthero. McKinney is widely credited with developing The Weeknd's sound as ...

and

Illangelo Carlo Montagnese (born July 29, 1987), known professionally as Illangelo, is a Canadian record producer, songwriter and mixing engineer who came to attention as long-time collaborator of The Weeknd. Having executive produced his 2011 mixtapes c ...

. It was included on his compilation album, ''

Trilogy A trilogy is a set of three distinct works that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games. Three-part works that are considered components of ...

'' (2012). The song is a two-part track. Its first part, "House of Balloons", was built around a sample of the British band

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...

' 1980 single, "

Happy House "Happy House" is a song written by Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin and recorded by their band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released as a single in March 1980 by record label Polydor, then later included on the band's third album, ''Kaleid ...

", and lyrically attempts to convince someone that everything is fine in his "happy house". Its second part, "Glass Table Girls", replaces the sample with a darker beat, and discusses lyrical themes of drugs and sex.

Music journalists Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

included the song in several listicles and praised its sadness, its production, the use of

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

, and the song's exploration of a degenerate party nightmare and the obsessed music world. It was performed at the Weeknd's first shows and included on the set lists for all of his tours: The Kiss Land Fall Tour (2013), the Madness Fall Tour (2015), the Starboy: Legend of the Fall Tour (2017), Asia Tour (2018), and the

After Hours til Dawn Tour The After Hours 'til Dawn Stadium Tour, previously titled The After Hours Tour, is the ongoing seventh concert tour by Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd, in support of his fourth, fifth, and sixth studio albums, '' After Hours'' (2020), '' ...

(2022–2024). It was certified

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI).

Background and production

In an interview with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', the Weeknd said that the inspiration for the first part and the mixtape's title came from a house located in

Parkdale, Toronto Parkdale is a neighbourhood and former village in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, west of Downtown Toronto, downtown. The neighbourhood is bounded on the west by Roncesvalles Avenue; on the north by the Canadian Pacific Railway, CP Rail line where it c ...

. He stated that he and his friends would throw parties and invite girls over, and to make it more "celebratory", they would add balloons. The producer

first met the Weeknd through Adrian Gough and

Cirkut Henry Russell Walter (born April 23, 1986), known professionally as Cirkut, is a Canadian record producer and songwriter. He has co-produced and co-written commercially successful singles, often in tandem with American record producer Dr. Luke ...

in January 2011. As McKinney played songs to the Weeknd for consideration, "House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls" immediately caught his attention. During an interview with the Canadian broadcaster

Tom Power Thomas Francis Power (1869 – February 25, 1898) was an American professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for one season. In 1890, he played primarily as a first baseman, but also played as a second baseman, ...

, McKinney revealed more information regarding the recording of the track; stating that before the second part of the track was made, it was originally a 25 minute version of "House of Balloons". The Weeknd expressed his desire to rap at the end of the track, asking McKinney to make a beat, leading to the creation of "Glass Table Girls". The Weeknd released his debut

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

, ''House of Balloons'', through his website on March 21, 2011. Out of nine songs, "House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls" is placed at number three. Afterwards, it was included on the Weeknd's

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

, ''

'', on November 13, 2012.

Music and lyrics

The song is a two-part track. In the first part, "House of Balloons", the Weeknd sings about a party he is at in his "Happy House". It is an R&B song built around a sample of "

" by the British band

. McKinney stated that he initially conceived the beat for the song in 2008, intending it for

Santigold Santi White (born September 25, 1976), known professionally as Santigold (formerly Santogold), is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut studio album, '' Santogold'' (2008), was released by Atlantic Records and met with widespread critica ...

before he played it to the Weeknd. The song has the Weeknd sing about a party, unconvincingly telling the listener that it is "happy here, in a happy house". While ranking the Weeknd's best beat switches, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s Bianca Gracie wrote about the first part's overall sound: " rattling bassline, sharp synths, and [his

]" mimicks the Substance intoxication, high of "whatever narcotic." Roughly three and a half minutes into the track, the track's instrumental switches to its second song, "Glass Table Girls", with the sample from "Happy House" replaced by a much darker beat, described by ''Billboard'' as "brute percussion and low-end churn". The verse features the Weeknd mixing rapping and low-pitch singing about doing coke, sleeping with another person's girlfriend, and themes of sex. ''

Impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a large force or mechanical shock over a short period of time * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Imp ...

'' described the Weeknd as being "completely gone" by the end.

Critical reception

In a review of the first half of the song, ''Pitchfork'' noted how while the song may sound like a "fluffy counterpart" to "What You Need", the song has a similar level of sadness to it. They later ranked it at number 57 on their list of Top 100 Songs, with Eric Grandy saying it was "Tesfaye at his best, emoting in a androgynous falsetto one minute, muttering unbelievable curses the next." ''Billboard'' named it a "song that defined the 2010's" calling the song "intoxicating and menacing", stating it is "the sound of a party degrading in real time", writing that the journey the Weeknd has in the song, from "kinda creepy but mostly chill" to "a degenerate nightmare f a gathering of merrymakers only works as it does because the two songs are in one track, rather than being separated. Daria Patarek of ''Impact'' called the track "another incredible entry in the Weeknd's debut mixtape 'House of Balloons', which explores his rise to fame, and consequently his entry into the drug-ridden, sex-filled and money-obsessed music world." ''

'' ranked "House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls" as the Weeknd's 9th best track, noting its second half as "one of the most viscerally affecting entries in the Weeknd's whole catalog, as icy and thunderous as an avalanche." They also placed its first part 488th on their 2021 revision of the

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2 ...

. ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' named "House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls" as the best song released under the XO record label, stating it "defined" the sound of the Weeknd's "trailblazing, totally singular debut mixtape ''House of Balloons''," further writing that the song's sound "would swiftly dominate the Weeknd’s native Toronto and far beyond," and that it would influence an entire decade of "moody hip-hop and melancholic R&B." They further wrote that the song's production was a stand out, writing that it dug into a "bleak but beautiful vibe" which soon spread around.

Live performances

"House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls" was performed at the Weeknd's first ever show at the

Mod Club Theatre The Mod Club Theatre is an entertainment venue situated at 722 College Street, in Toronto's Little Italy neighbourhood. The Mod Club operated from 2002 until the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. In late 2021, the venue reopened as The Axis Club, b ...

on July 24, 2011. The song was included on the set list for his headlining performance at the

Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorad ...

, which was his first show in the United States, and for his first show in the United Kingdom on June 8. The full song was included on the set list for three of his concert tours—the Kiss Land Fall Tour (2013), the Madness Fall Tour (2015) and Asia Tour (2018). Its second part by itself was included on the set list for the Starboy: Legend of the Fall Tour (2017) and the first part during his Super Bowl LV halftime show on February 7, 2021, and on the set list for the second leg of the

(2023).

Personnel

Credits adapted from

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

. * Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) – lead vocals, composition, songwriting, executive production * Carlo Montagnese (Illangelo) – composition, production, mixing, engineering * Martin McKinney (Doc McKinney) – composition. production, engineering * Matthew Acton − assistant recording engineer

Samples

* Susan Ballion (Siouxsie Sioux) – songwriting *

John McGeoch John Alexander McGeoch (25 August 1955 – 4 March 2004) was a Scottish musician and songwriter. He is best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Magazine (1977–1980) and Siouxsie and the Banshees (1980–1982). He has been described as o ...

– songwriting *

Steven Severin Steven John Bailey (born 25 September 1955) known professionally as Steven Severin, is an English songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He was the bassist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees which he co-founded in 1976. ...

– songwriting * Peter Clarke (Budgie) – songwriting

Certifications

References

{{The Weeknd songs 2011 songs The Weeknd songs Songs written by the Weeknd Songs written by Doc McKinney Songs written by Illangelo Song recordings produced by Illangelo Song recordings produced by Doc McKinney