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 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.

Both the English and German versions tell about two children who buy 99 balloons at a toy shop and release them into the air, where faulty East German radar equipment registers the balloons as incoming weapons. The government immediately put their troops on red alert and scrambles fighter jets to intercept, which ultimately triggers a nuclear war between East and West. In the apocalyptic aftermath, the song's narrator stands in the rubble of the city and finds a single remaining balloon. Thinking of someone, 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.

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 (Jonathan Harchick) 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.

The translation of the title is sometimes given as "Ninety-Nine Air Balloons", however "Ninety-Nine Balloons" is more correct. 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; indeed, the balloons described in the song would be filled with helium, which causes them to float; air-filled balloons would sink to the ground. 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.

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

Preceded by "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood	UK number one single 3 March 1984 - 17 March 1984	Succeeded by "Hello" by Lionel Richie
Preceded by "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper	Australian Kent Music Report number-one single 7 April 1984 – 7 May 1984	Succeeded by "Eat It" by "Weird Al" Yankovic
Preceded by "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper	Irish Singles Chart number-one single 3 March 1984 – 24 March 1984	Succeeded by "Hello" by Lionel Richie
Preceded by "Red Red Wine" by UB40	Canadian RPM Singles Chart number one single March 3, 1984 – March 10, 1984	Succeeded by "Jump" by Van Halen
Preceded by "Radio Ga Ga" by Queen	Swedish Singles Chart number-one single 3 April 1984 – 8 May 1984	Succeeded by "Street Dance" by Break Machine
Preceded by "Poi E" by Patea Maori Club	New Zealand RIANZ singles chart number-one single 18 April 1984	Succeeded by "Reggae Nights" by Jimmy Cliff
Preceded by "Major Tom (Völlig Losgelöst)" by Peter Schilling	German Singles Chart number-one single 25 March 1983	Succeeded by "Too Shy" by Kajagoogoo