Forums → The Tavern → "99 Red balloons"

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 were gone
Back at base, bugs in the software
Flash the message, something's out there
Floating in the summer sky
Ninety-nine red balloons go by

Ninety-nine red balloons
Floating in the summer sky
Panic bells, it's red alert
There's something here from somewhere else
The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
As ninety-nine red balloons go by

Ninety-nine decisions treat
Ninety-nine ministers meet
To worry, worry, super scurry
Call out the troops now in a hurry
This is what we've waited for
This is it, boys, this is war
The President is on the line
As ninety-nine red balloons go by

Neunundneunzig Kriegsminister
Streichholz und Benzinkanister
Hielten sich f�r schlaue Leute
Witterten schon fette Beute
Riefen: Krieg und wollten Macht
Mann, wer h�tte das gedacht?
Da� es einmal so weit kommt
Wegen neunundneunzig Luftballons
Neunundneunzig Luftballons

Ninety-nine dreams I have had
And every one a red balloon
It's all over, and I'm standing pretty
In the dust that was a city
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

thats the song

Aw, lilt, it's no fun in English...
So I found the German text. It's faulty, because AG don't display special characters, such as a-umlaut and those... Yeah.

Hast du etwas Zeit fur mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fur dich
Von neunundneunzig Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Denkst du vielleicht g'rad an mich
Singe ich ein Lied fur dich
Von neunundneunzig Luftballons
Und das so was von sowas kommt


Neunundneunzig Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Hielt Man fur Ufos aus dem All
Darum schickte ein General
'Ne Fliegerstaffel hinterher
Alarm zu geben, wenn's so war
Dabei war'n da am Horizont
Nur neunundneunzig Luftballons

Neunundneunzig Dusenflieger
Jeder war ein groser Krieger
Hielten sich fur Captain Kirk
Das gab ein groses Feuerwerk
Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft
Und fuhlten sich gleich angemacht
Dabei schos man am Horizont
Auf neunundneunzig Luftballons

Neunundneunzig Kriegsminister
Streichholz und Benzinkanister
Hielten sich fur schlaue Leute
Witterten schon fette Beute
Riefen "Krieg!" und wollten Macht
Mann, wer hatte das gedacht
Das es einmal so weit kommt
Wegen neunundneunzig Luftballons
Wegen neunundneunzig Luftballons
Neunundneunzig Luftballons

Neunundneunzig Jahre Krieg
Liesen keinen Platz fur Sieger
Kriegsminister gibt's nicht mehr
Und auch keine Dusenflieger
Heute zieh' ich meine Runden
Seh' die Welt in Trummern liegen
Hab' 'nen Luftballon gefunden
Denk' an dich und las' ihn fliegen

That's actually probably the only German I have ever really wanted to be able to understand.

Alright now, what it really means... Well, it's about someone releasing 99 balloons, for fun, and the balloons drift off and end up causing a war... I guess there's a certain irony to it, but I can't remember any of the analyzing we did in class...

Uh...
Wow.
This thread seems pointless...

Oh, not really Agent. Your post however, was extremely pointless. But you saved me from double posting, so thanks.

It's not pointless... Discussion of that song and its meanings, perhaps?

But ya know, there's always the Wikipedia info...

"99 Luftballons" is a Cold War-era protest song by the German singer Nena. Originally sung in German, it was later re-recorded in English as "99 Red Balloons".

Whoa...
That's really interesting.
I'm surprised that I've never heard of this before.

You should go listen to the song, it's actually pretty good. Understanding German obviously makes it a better experience, but I think it's still worth listening to either way~

Oh, and quotes from youtube users who looks like they know what they're talking about:

Both the English and German versions of the song tell a story of ninety-nine balloons floating into the air, triggering an apocalyptic overreaction by military forces. The music was composed by Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, the keyboardist of Nena's band, while Karges wrote the original German lyrics. Kevin McAlea wrote the English version, titled "99 Red Balloons". The English version is not a direct translation of the German but contains a somewhat different set of lyrics.

When they wrote the song in english they had to think of another adjective to use because if she just said balon in german it would mean blimp, luftbalon means balloon. Since they didnt have to do that in english they used red to keep the rythem of the song. And the english version isnt a direct translation because words that might rhyme in german might not rhyme in english and vice versa.

i never herd that song seriously wierd

hmm. thats very interesting.

99 red ballons is a song BTW

Heh Well Now I know, thanks guys!..I still thing goldfinger's version is better though

If I was not really tired, I would care enough to translate the text directly, at least if anyone is interested.

Oh, the difference:
English text:
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

German text:
Hast du etwas Zeit fur mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fur dich
Von neunundneunzig Luftballons

And translated:
If you have some time for me
Then I will sing a song for you
about ninetynine balloons

Anyway...

Oh yes, the horror of translations that tries to fit the rhythm and tune, not the text...
My German isn't good enough, otherwise I would have made a direct translation myself. If you get the time for making such a translation, I would actually appreciate it.

Funny how different it is from the English version. I guess that's what happens when people decide to be creative to get the rhythm to fit. >_>
But thank you, Cenere!