99 Luftballons
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"99 Luftballons" (german: link=no, Neunundneunzig Luftballons, "99 balloons") is a song by the German band
Nena Gabriele Susanne Kerner (born 24 March 1960), better known as Nena, is a German singer and songwriter who rose to international fame in 1983 as the lead vocalist of the band Nena (band), Nena with the Neue Deutsche Welle song "99 Luftballons". I ...
from their 1983 self-titled album. An English-language version titled "99 Red Balloons", with lyrics by
Kevin McAlea Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...
, was also released on the album ''
99 Luftballons "99 Luftballons" (german: link=no, Neunundneunzig Luftballons, "99 balloons") is a song by the German band Nena from their 1983 self-titled album. An English-language version titled "99 Red Balloons", with lyrics by Kevin McAlea, was also relea ...
'' in 1984 after widespread success of the original in Europe and Japan. The English version is not a direct translation of the German original and contains lyrics with a somewhat different meaning. In the US, the English-language version did not chart, while the German-language recording became Nena's only US hit.


Lyrics

While at a June 1982 concert by
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in
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, Nena's guitarist
Carlo Karges Carlo Karges (31 July 1951 – 30 January 2002) was a German musician who became a guitarist and songwriter for the rock band, Nena. He wrote the lyrics of Nena's most famous song, "99 Luftballons", released in 1983. He was attending a 1982 Rolli ...
noticed that balloons were being released. As he watched them move toward the horizon, he noticed them shifting and changing shapes, where they looked like strange
spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...
(referred to in the German lyrics as a "
UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
"). He thought about what might happen if they floated over the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
to the
Soviet sector The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...
. Also cited by the band was a newspaper article from the ''
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'' about five local high school students in 1973 who played a prank to simulate a UFO by launching 99 (one was lost from the original 100) aluminized Mylar balloons attached with ribbons to a traffic flare. The red flame from the flare reflected by the balloons gave the appearance of a large pulsating red object floating over Red Rock Canyon outside the
Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Stat ...
in Nevada. A direct translation of the title is sometimes given as "Ninety-Nine Air Balloons", but the song became known in English as "Ninety-Nine Red Balloons". The title "99 Red Balloons" almost scans correctly with the syllables falling in the right places within the rhythm of the first line of lyrics, although ''Neunundneunzig'' (99) has one syllable more than "ninety-nine". The lyrics of the original German version tell a story: 99 balloons are mistaken for UFOs, causing a
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to send pilots to investigate. Finding nothing but balloons, the pilots put on a large show of fire power. The display of force worries the nations along the borders and the
war minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in so ...
s on each side encourage conflict to grab power for themselves. In the end, a cataclysmic war results from the otherwise harmless flight of balloons and causes devastation on all sides without a victor, as indicated in the denouement of the song: "''99 Jahre Krieg ließen keinen Platz für Sieger''," which means "99 years of war left no room for victors." The anti-war song finishes with the singer walking through the devastated ruins of the world and finding a single balloon. The description of what happens in the final line of the piece is the same in German and English: "''Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen''," or "I think of you and let it go."


English version and other re-recordings

The English version retains the spirit of the original narrative, but many of the lyrics are translated poetically rather than being directly translated: red helium balloons are casually released by the civilian singer (narrator) with her unnamed friend into the sky and are mistakenly registered by a faulty
early warning system An early warning system is a warning system that can be implemented as a chain of information communication systems and comprises sensors, event detection and decision subsystems for early identification of hazards. They work together to forec ...
as enemy contacts, resulting in panic and eventually nuclear war, with the end of the song near-identical to the end of the original German version. From the outset Nena and other members of the band expressed disapproval of the English version of the song, "99 Red Balloons". In March 1984, the band's keyboardist and song co-writer Uwe Fahrenkrog Petersen said, "We made a mistake there. I think the song loses something in translation and even sounds silly." In another interview that month, the band, including Nena herself, were quoted as being "not completely satisfied" with the English version since it was "too blatant" for a group not wishing to be seen as a protest band. Two re-recordings of the original German version of the song have been released by Nena: a modern ballad version, which was included on '' Nena feat. Nena'' (2002), and a 2009 retro version, which originally aired as an animated video on the European
Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...
channel (as part of a special called "Summer of the '80s") and included some portions in French (specifically, the second part of the first verse and the entire final verse). Nena later formally released this rendition on her 2010 ''Best of Nena'' compilation; however the French text was omitted and replaced with the original German lyrics. Live recordings of the song are included on all seven of Nena's live albums, dating from 1995 to 2018. A special edit that combined the English and German versions of the song was played on '' American Top 40'' with
Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably '' American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice Nor ...
for the week of 24 March 1984 (Program #814-12).


Reception

American and Australian audiences preferred the original German version, which became a very successful non-English-language song, topping charts in both countries, reaching on the ''
Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' chart,
Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...
, and on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, behind "
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" by
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. It was certified
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by the
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
. The later-released English translation, "99 Red Balloons", topped the charts in the UK, Canada and Ireland. In his 2010 book '' Music: What Happened?'', critic and musician Scott Miller declared that the song possesses "one of the best hooks of
the eighties File:1980s replacement montage02.PNG, 420px, From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, '' Columbia'', lifts off in 1981; US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ease tensions between the two superpowers, leading to th ...
" and listed it among his top song picks for 1984. Nonetheless, he cautioned: "It must be admitted that this song suffers from an embarrassingly out-of-place disco funk interlude, and the word '' Kriegsminister''."


Music video

The promotional video, which was originally made for the Dutch music programme ''
TopPop ''TopPop'' is the first regular dedicated pop music television series in the Dutch language area. The Netherlands broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly, from 22 September 1970, to 27 June 1988. Presenter Ad Visser hosted for its first fif ...
'' and broadcast on 13 March 1983, was shot in a Dutch military training camp, the band performing the song on a stage in front of a backdrop of fires and explosions provided by the
Dutch Army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dutc ...
. Towards the end of the video, the band are seen taking cover and abandoning the stage, which was unplanned and genuine since they believed the explosive blasts were getting out of control.
VH1 Classic MTV Classic (formerly VH1 Smooth, VH1 Classic Rock, and VH1 Classic) is an American pay television network owned by Paramount Media Networks. It was originally launched in 1998 as VH1 Smooth, an adult contemporary and smooth jazz channel. It w ...
, an American cable television station, ran a charity event for
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
relief in 2006. Viewers who made donations were allowed to choose which
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
s the station would play. One viewer donated $35,000 for the right to program an entire hour and requested continuous play of "99 Luftballons" and "99 Red Balloons" videos. The station broadcast the videos as requested from 2:00 to 3:00p.m. EST on 26 March 2006.


Charts and certifications


German version


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications and sales


English version


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications and sales


2002 re-release


See also

*
List of anti-war songs Some anti-war songs lament aspects of wars, while others satirize war. Most promote peace in some form, while others sing out against specific armed conflicts. Still others depict the physical and psychological destruction that warfare causes to ...
*
Lists of number-one singles (Austria) The listing of number-one hits in Austria taken from the Ö3 Austria Top 40 listing per year can be found as follows: Number-one singles *List of number-one hits of 1990 (Austria) *List of number-one hits of 1991 (Austria) * List of number-one hi ...
*
List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s The following lists the number one singles on the Australian Singles Chart, along with other substantial hits, during the 1980s. The source for this decade is the Kent Music Report (retitled as Australian Music Report in 1987), and the ARIA Char ...
*
List of number-one singles of 1984 (Canada) ''RPM'' was a Canadian magazine that published the best-performing singles of Canada from 1964 to 2000. Twenty-six songs reached number one in 1984. Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson had the first number-one hit of the year with "Say Say Say", ...
* List of ''Cash Box'' Top 100 number-one singles of 1984 * List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1983 * List of European number-one hits of 1983 *
List of number-one hits of 1983 (Germany) This is a list of the German ''Media Control'' Top 100 Singles Chart number-ones of 1983. References German Singles Chart Archives from 1956 {{Germanhits 1983 in Germany Germany 1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of th ...
*
List of number-one singles of 1984 (Ireland) This is a list of singles which have reached number one on the Irish Singles Chart in 1984. *19 Number Ones *Most weeks at No.1 (song): "Two Tribes" - Frankie Goes To Hollywood (7) *Most weeks at No.1 (artist): Frankie Goes To Hollywood (7) *Mo ...
*
List of number-one singles from the 1980s (New Zealand) The following lists the number-one singles on the New Zealand Singles Chart during the 1980s. The source for this decade is the Recorded Music NZ chart, the chart history of which can be found on the Recorded Music NZ website or Charts.nz. A to ...
*
List of number-one singles and albums in Sweden A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*
List of number-one singles of the 1980s (Switzerland) This is a list of singles that reached number one on the Swiss Hitparade during the 1980s. Number-one singles See also *1980s in music References {{SwissNumber1s Number-one singles Switzerland 1980s File:1980s replacement montage02.PN ...
*
List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1980s The UK Singles Chart is the official record chart in the United Kingdom. Until 1983, it was compiled weekly by the British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) on behalf of the British record industry with a two-week break each Christmas. The BMRB used ...
* List of one-hit wonders in the United States


References


External links


"99 Luftballons"
at the official Nena website * {{Authority control 1983 songs 1983 singles 1984 singles Nena (band) songs Songs written by Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen Cashbox number-one singles Columbia Records singles Epic Records singles Dutch Top 40 number-one singles European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Sweden Number-one singles in Switzerland Oricon International Singles Chart number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles German-language songs Anti-war songs Protest songs Songs about nuclear war and weapons Songs about the military Balloons (entertainment) Cold War in popular culture