I heard once that Ronald Reagan decided we needed a national missle defense after he was shown the video for 99 Red Balloons. Now as featherbrained as Reagan was, I still find this very hard to believe. Is there any truth to this, or is it just a good joke?
P.S. Goldfinger does an awesome cover of the song.
I find it hard to believe that Reagan was watching MTV at the time, or that one of his staff would deem it necessary to bring a music video to the President’s attention.
I know the cover, and I like it too. It’s not a true cover though. The lyrics are quite different and seem likely to spawn an urband legend exactly like the story you describe.
Is this something you heard before or after the release of Stomping Ground ?
Reagan featherbrained? God Lord. That’s almost as funny as the press saying that so far Dubya has had an “uneventful presidency”, just because he hasn’t been caught taking Chinese campaign donations or having sex with the interns and none of his staff has turned up dead under suspicious circumstances.
That said, it probably had something to do with Reagan knowing that it is far less costly to develop an unmanned missile than it is to develop a manned fighter or bomber. Kind of like, uh, how that country over near Japan is doing, what’s it called? I forget. - MC
It says that she was born in the city of Hagen in Westfalen in Germany. (For those of you without a good map, that’s about 50 miles northwest of Cologne.)
The German version of the song was released in 1983. In any case, Reagan wasn’t influenced by the video. Even someone like me who thinks Reagan was empty-headed and already starting to go senile in 1983 knows that he probably never watched MTV or even knew what it was.
Which “original lyrics”? The German; or the English? They’re very different. Let me try to translate…
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
And I will sing a song for you
Of 99 toy balloons
And come from that what may
99 toy balloons
On their way to the horizon
Were taken for UFOs from outer space
And so a general sent
A fighter squadron
To give alarm if that’s the case
But the only thing on the horizon
Were 99 toy balloons
99 fighter jocks
Each one was the greater warrior
Each one was a “Captain Kirk”
That’s what caused the fireworks.
The neighbours (neighbouring countries) had no idea (what was going on)
And felt that they were getting screwed (being attacked by the jets)
And so they shot at the horizon
At 99 toy balloons
99 Ministers of War
Matches and gasoline drums!
Saw themselves as sly people
They were already gathering the fat booty
Yelling, “War!” and wanting power
Man, who would have thought
That when “the big one” finally came
It would be caused by 99 toy balloons
99 years of war
Leaves no place for a victor
The War Ministers are no more
And there are no more fighter jocks
Today I trudge in my circle
I see the world lying in rubble
I’ve found a toy balloon
I think of you and let it go
It seems a fairly linear story to me. (And a lot “heavier” than the English lyrics.)