# 99 Luftballons (new version) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103 "2008-04-05T18:34:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/1 "2008-04-05T18:34:42Z")
Well, not new now… It came out in 2002. [Original video/version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQYQTFudrqc) [New video/version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcEX7hoD9U8) Original version: Gotta love those '80s clothes! And the hair. Actually, Nena’s hair looks pretty good, even 25 years on. Not like a lot of '80s styles, which really look overdone. The early '80s was ‘my time’ for music. I loved the New Wave. And I liked this song in particular; first just because I like the way it sounds, and also because I could speak some German at the time and I liked the lyrics. (The German lyrics are much better than the English ones.) New version: What’s the adjective I want? The tune has changed. It’s more… dreamy? It sounds very much like a lot of songs by female artists in the early-2000s. But I like it. Not as much as the original, but my musical tastes are eclectic and didn’t end in with the '80s. I can dig it. The video though doesn’t make sense… The story in a nutshell: A couple of kids buy some toy balloons and let them go. They’re picked up on radar and a general sends interceptors to check them out and give the alarm if they’re UFOs. Now, the fighter pilots are a bunch of jocks. That, as the song says, it what starts the ‘fireworks’ – the pilots firing on the balloons. The neighbouring countries didn’t know what was going on, and they felt _angemacht_. I asked a German woman back in the '80s what _angemacht_ meant, and she said ‘if you’re making something and you put one thing in with another, that’s _angemacht_.’ But in context I came to the conclusion that the colloquial meaning was ‘being messed with’, ‘being put upon’, or ‘being screwed over’. Defense Ministers are calling for war and grasping for power. They can already see the booty from war profiteering. So war comes. After 99 years of war there are no victors. The world lies in rubble. The narrator (the girl who set loose the balloons – miraculously still alive after a century) trudges in her circuit. She finds a balloon, thinks of her (presumably dead) boyfriend, and lets it go. The video for the new version of the song takes place at a beach. There’s no indication of any wars going on. No images that match the story. And there are a lot of missing lines. These lines (pardon my translation) are missing: \*99 Fighter pilots Each one was a greater warrior Saw themselves as Captain Kirk That’s what caused the big fireworks The neighbours had no idea And felt themselves ill-used So everyone shot at a horizon of 99 toy balloons 99 War Ministers Matches and gas cans Saw them selves as sly people They could already see the fat booty Shouting ‘War!’ and wanting power Man, who would have thought That when ‘The Big one’ finally came It would be because of 99 toy balloons?\* So the new version has the kids buying balloons, the Air Force sending up interceptors, and then a wasteland after 99 years of war with no explanation of how it came about. It doesn’t have the anger caused by the Cold War paranoia and escalating defence budgets. Without the middle verses the story is incomplete. It lacks context. Seen that way it seems to be a case of ‘Hey, let’s make a few Marks off of this old ditty.’ Still, just as ear candy, I like it. And after five children and at 41 or 42 when the video was made, Nena still looks hot. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/2 "2008-04-05T19:01:14Z")
Is there an English translation version like the original? ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/3 "2008-04-05T19:17:41Z")
> [@](#): > > 99 Decision Street > 99 ministers meet > To worry, worry, super-scurry > Call the troops out in a hurry > This is what we’ve waited for > This is it boys, this is war > The president is on the line > As 99 red balloons go by > > 99 Knights of the air > Ride super-high-tech jet fighters > Everyone’s a Super Hero > Everyone’s a Captain Kirk > With orders to identify > To clarify and classify > Scramble in the summer sky > As 99 red balloons go by These are the lyrics to the original song for the verses in question, are yours from the new version? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/4 "2008-04-05T19:22:05Z")
[QUOTE=Khadaji] Is there an English translation version like the original? [/QUOTE] I’m not aware of a version with a translation of the German lyrics. But my own (probably imperfect) translation of the other lyrics would be: 1. _Do you have some time for me? Then I will sing a song for you Of 99 toy balloons On their way to the horizon Perhaps you will think well of me Then I will sing a song for you Of 99 toy balloons And come from that what may…_ 1. _99 toy balloons on their way to the horizon Were taken to be UFOs from outer space So a general sent a fighter squadron To send alarm if such was the case But on the horizon were Only 99 toy balloons_ 1. _99 years of war Leaves no place for victors War Ministers are no more And there are no fighter pilots Today I trudge my rounds See the world lying in rubble Found a toy balloon Think of you and let it fly…_ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/5 "2008-04-05T19:23:50Z")
[QUOTE=MikeG] These are the lyrics to the original song for the verses in question, are yours from the new version? [/QUOTE] The verses you quote are from the _English_ version of the original song. The lines I posted are my translation of the German lyrics in the original song. These lines (in German, of course) are not in the new version. EDIT: You can see why I like the German lyrics better. They’re a bit more ‘harsh’ than the English ones. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/6 "2008-04-05T20:54:35Z")
Take one down and pass it around, 98 toy balloons on the wall. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/7 "2008-04-05T21:28:04Z")
Another change that I find interesting (though small). In the original version, the last two lines are Hab’ ‘nen Luftballon gefunden (Found a balloon) Denk’ an dich und lass’ ihn fliegen (Think of you and let it fly) In the new version, they’re Hab’ nen Luftballon gefunden Denk’ an **euch** und lass’ ihn fliegen (euch is you plural instead of you singular) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/8 "2008-04-05T21:37:05Z")
[QUOTE=Strinka] In the new version, they’re Hab’ nen Luftballon gefunden Denk’ an **euch** und lass’ ihn fliegen (euch is you plural instead of you singular) [/QUOTE] I noticed that too. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/9 "2008-04-05T22:11:32Z")
[Here](http://www.inthe80s.com/redger3.shtml) is a side-by-side comparison of the original German lyrics, English translation of German and English adaptation. Thanks **Johnny** for turning me on to a great song (I was whooshed when it originally came out, thinking it was some silly Euro-pop song). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/10 "2008-04-05T22:54:38Z")
[QUOTE=K364] [Here](http://www.inthe80s.com/redger3.shtml) is a side-by-side comparison of the original German lyrics, English translation of German and English adaptation. [/QUOTE] Looks like I was fairly close in my translation. I interpreted _Und dass sowas von sowas kommt_ differently. I thought it was ‘And that something from something comes’, and that it was a colloquial way of saying ‘And come from that what may’. It makes more sense (And that something comes from such a thing), especially in the context of the song. Thanks for the link. [QUOTE=K364] I was whooshed when it originally came out, thinking it was some silly Euro-pop song [/quote] The English version, or the German version? ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/11 "2008-04-05T23:44:46Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] The English version, or the German version? [/QUOTE] It was probably the English, and I never really tried to give the lyrics a good listen. (I had given up on Pop/Rock sometime during Disco and had switched to Jazz and Classical) ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/12 "2008-04-06T01:39:22Z")
It’s held up very well–the song. The videos are both kind of amateurish, and I like the second one better. As for the songs, I remember trying to figure out what the lyrics were (I had taken 5 years of German by then). There was no internet and I never bought the album, so I had to go by what I could make out. It wasn’t much, given that she uses slang, and that no amount of my German studies taught me about aircraft and war (vocabulary, anyway). Viewing both songs back to back (and btw, I was proud of myself that I recognized heute, fliegen and other random words. I haven’t spoken or read German in over 20 years), I think that Nena intends the second song to be a sort of homage to the first. If you are familiar with both songs, you don’t need all the verses. To me, the second one, while a bit more surreal and ethereal, seems to be harkening back to the spirit of the first one, like Nena is saying, hey 25 years on and we still have cowboys shooting down children’s toys etc. Kind of an underscoring of the bitterness and sadness of the first song. I like that she uses “euch”–because it takes it out of any romantic context and makes it a social commentary. And that’s enough analysis of two nice pop songs for me! 🙂 And yes, she is drop dead gorgeous and hot. Even more so now than back then, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/13 "2008-04-06T08:30:07Z")
1. Nena looks great after all these years! 2. The new version is kind lame. 3. Have told this story before here many times, but here goes again: Back when the (original) version was a hit in Germany and then, surprise of all surprises, a hit in the German version around the world, an American friend of mine in Berlin got Nena as one of his students for ESL (English as a Second Language). He was boasting about it and then, when her second LP came out (before CD’s existed) with songs in English, one reviewer said she sounded like Elmer Fudd when she sang in English. We laughed and laughed and our friend was mortified. However, our friend did get the last laugh - he later wrote lots of lyrics for other German singers and groups and made a very nice living off it. Last I heard, he is living on an island and still getting royalties…we ain’t laughin’ anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/14 "2008-04-06T09:07:22Z")
I’ve always loved the [Goldfinger](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhiuyW17XBw) version. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/15 "2008-04-06T10:08:37Z")
In the English translation, why are the balloons red? ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/16 "2008-04-06T10:49:26Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > In the English translation, why are the balloons red? Just for the meter. Thanks for the link to the Goldfinger version, **Cisco**. I like it as well. The article in [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Luftballons) is quite good. I had no idea it had been covered so many times. I’m pleasantly surprised at how well the video and the song stand up after all this time. The newer version is pretty, I guess (and I like it much better having read and thought about your interpretation, **rigs** ), but I’m still partial to the original. GT ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/17 "2008-04-06T13:49:30Z")
[QUOTE=gardentraveler] > [@guizot](#): > > In the English translation, why are the balloons red? Just for the meter. [/QUOTE] That’s why I used ‘toy balloons’ in my translation. It needs a syllable, and ‘air balloons’ doesn’t sound right. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/18 "2008-04-06T14:18:44Z")
I have an english version CD of ‘99 Red Balloons’. Still listen to it. About half the songs are in german. Balloons is in English. She has a great voice. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/19 "2008-04-06T14:47:23Z")
[QUOTE=enipla] I have an english version CD of ‘99 Red Balloons’. Still listen to it. About half the songs are in german. Balloons is in English. [/QUOTE] The album has the German version as well as the (IMO lightweight) English version. I also like _Kino_ and _Leuchtturm_. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103/20 "2008-04-07T00:42:45Z")
Her whole **20 Jahre - Nena Feat** disc (where the new 99 version comes from) is excellent, with updated versions of many other of her early songs. Also, her newish (2000-something) disc of new originals, **Willst du mit mir gehen** is arguably the best stuff she’s ever done, truly great electro-pop music. I believe both are available on Amazon & mp3sparks Nena’s seen a resurgence of awareness and popularity these days, as a long time fan I’m loving it 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-luftballons-new-version/444103.md?page=2)