99 Luftballons

"99 Luftballons" / "99 Red Balloons"
Single by Nena
from the album Nena and 99 Luftballons
Released	1983 (West Germany) 1984 (United Kingdom)
Format	CD single
Recorded	1982
Genre	Neue Deutsche Welle, New Wave
Length	3:53
Label	CBS Schallplatten
Writer(s)	Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen (music) Carlo Karges (German lyrics) Kevin McAlea (English lyrics)
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
Nena singles chronology
"Nur geträumt" (1982) "99 Luftballons" (1983) "Leuchtturm" (1983)
Music sample 99 Luftballons

"99 Luftballons" (German for "99 air balloons") is a protest song by the German pop-rock band Nena from their 1983 self-titled album. Originally sung in German, it was later re-recorded in English as "99 Red Balloons" for their album 99 Luftballons in 1984. Later Nena (without band) recorded a new version of the song.

History

While at a June 1982 concert by the Rolling Stones in West Berlin, Nena's guitarist Carlo Karges 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 (referred to in the German lyrics as a "UFO"). He thought about what might happen if they floated over the Berlin Wall to the Soviet sector.^[1]

Both the English and German versions tell how 99 balloons are flying in the sky, where they are spotted by the military who don't recognize them as balloons but instead think they are some kind of incoming weapon. They immediately put their troops on red alert and call out jet fighters to intercept which ultimately triggers a nuclear war between the two Cold War adversaries. In the apocalyptic aftermath, the song's narrator stands in the rubble of the city and finds a single remaining balloon. Thinking of someone, he or she then lets the balloon go. The music was composed by Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, the keyboardist of Nena's band, while Karges wrote the original German lyrics.

Having achieved widespread success in Germanic Europe and Japan, plans were made for the band to take the song international with an English version by Kevin McAlea, titled "99 Red Balloons". The English version is not a direct translation of the German and contains a somewhat different set of lyrics.^[2]

VH1 Classic, an American cable television station, ran a charity event for Hurricane Katrina relief in 2006. Viewers who made donations were allowed to choose which music videos the station would play. One viewer donated $35,000 for the right to program an entire hour and requested continuous play of Nena's "99 Luftballons" and "99 Red Balloons" videos. The station broadcast the videos as requested from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. EST on 26 March 2006.^[3]

The translation of the title is sometimes given as "Ninety-Nine Air Balloons", however "Ninety-Nine Balloons" is also correct.^[4][5] A Luftballon is a colourful toy balloon, rather than a balloon for transport or research. The name is derived from Luft, German for air, but the meaning of Luft does not qualify the type of balloon. The title "99 Red Balloons" almost scans correctly with the syllables falling in the right places within the rhythm of the first lines of lyrics, with "red" replacing "Luft"; the only difference is that neunundneunzig (99) has one syllable more than ninety-nine.

The 2002 re-release also features lyrics in French.

Covers

• The song appeared in its original German form in the 2009 film Watchmen.^[6]

See also

• Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet early-warning system operator who in 1983 disregarded a false nuclear attack alarm (from shining clouds, rather than balloons) and may have prevented a nuclear war.

References

1. ^ Rolling Stone, 15 March 1984
2. ^ Interview with the writer, Kevin McAlea, eightyeightynine.com.
3. ^ VH1 Classic to Air the Classic 80s Music Video '99 Luftballons' for an Entire Hour on Sunday, 26 March. VH1 Classic. 2006 (published 22 March 2006). http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/03-22-2006/0004325268&EDATE. Retrieved 5 July 2007 
4. ^ "The New English-German Dictionary: "Luftballon"". http://www.iee.et.tu-dresden.de/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/wernerr/search.sh?string=luftballon&nocase=on&hits=50. Retrieved 2 June 2007. "balloon -- der Luftballon" ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "The New English-German Dictionary: "Balloon"". http://www.iee.et.tu-dresden.de/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/wernerr/search.sh?string=balloon&nocase=on&hits=50. Retrieved 2 June 2007. "balloon -- der Ballon, balloon -- der Luftballon" ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Brunton, Richard (2008-11-10). "Snyder discusses Watchmen ending and DVD". Filmstalker. http://www.filmstalker.co.uk/archives/2008/11/snyder_discusses_watchmen_endi.html. Retrieved 2011-09-02. 

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