"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

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

, 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 ''

Las Vegas Review-Journal The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area. The ''Review-Journal'' ...

'' 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 "

Jump Jumping is a form of locomotion or movement in which an organism or non-living (e.g., robotic) mechanical system propels itself through the air along a ballistic trajectory. Jump or Jumping also may refer to: Places * Jump, Kentucky or Jump S ...

" by

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. It was certified

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by the

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. 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

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

Lyrics

English version and other re-recordings

Reception

Music video

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

References

External links