Its second part, "Glass Table Girls", replaces the sample with a darker beat, and discusses lyrical themes of drugs and sex.
As McKinney played songs to the Weeknd for consideration, "House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls" immediately caught his attention.
[3] 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".
[4] While ranking the Weeknd's best beat switches, Billboard's Bianca Gracie wrote about the first part's overall sound: "[a] rattling bassline, sharp synths, and [his falsetto]" mimicks the high of "whatever narcotic.
[4] The verse features the Weeknd mixing rapping and low-pitch singing about doing coke, sleeping with another person's girlfriend, and themes of sex.
[10] 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.
[7] Complex 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.
[13] "House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls" was performed at the Weeknd's first ever show at the Mod Club Theatre on July 24, 2011.