99 Red Balloons - Ninety Nine red Balloons

I remembered many years ago, when the song Ninety Nine Red Balloons was a hit record for the band Nena, hearing a radio presenter make mention of the fact that the English translation from the original German was rather weak and that the song had lost much of its intended meaning. I cannot remember who the radio presenter was, by the way, but it may have been Jim Hawkins of Mercia Sound (now on BBC Radio Shropshire) as he was a font of much musical knowledge at that time, but I digress.

Having heard the record again on the radio the other day it reminded me that all those years ago how I had wondered what the original lyrics were, so I decided to grasp the metaphorical nettle and find out what the original meaning was and what a literal translation of the original German lyrics to English would be.

The band Nena was fronted by Gabriele (Nena) Kerner and the song itself was a bright, foot tapping pop record that enjoyed number one chart success in February 1984, spending twelve weeks on the UK charts. The meaning behind the lyrics was somewhat darker: The song was written by Nena's guitarist Carlo Karges and was inspired by the cold war tensions between the USA and the Soviet Union. 'Gung Ho' generals start a war after seeing some objects in the sky - the red balloons - by the end of the massive war there is nothing left. It was a rather scary song in the original German, but when the song was re-written as a loose translation from German to English to appeal to the American market by Kevin McAlea some of the impact was lost.

Here are the lyrics from the Kevin McAlea translation:

	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 99 red balloons go by 99 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 99 red balloons go by 99 Decision street 99 ministers meet To worry, worry, super flurry 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 99 red balloons go by 99 dreams I have had In every one a red balloon It's all over and I'm standing pretty In this dust that was a city If I could find a souvenir Just to prove the world was here And here is a red balloon I think of you, and let it go
Here are the lyrics, as directly translated from German, by Hyde Flippo and, as you will see, they are a little more powerful:
	99 BALLOONS Have you some time for me, then I'll sing a song for you about 99 balloons on their way to the horizon. If you're perhaps thinking about me right now then I'll sing a song for you about 99 balloons and that such a thing comes from such a thing. 99 balloons on their way to the horizon People think they're UFO's from space so a general sent up a fighter squadron after them Sound the alarm if it's so but there on the horizon were only 99 balloons. 99 fighter jets Each one's a great warrior Thought they were Captain Kirk then came a lot of fireworks the neighbours didn't understand anything and felt like they were being provoked so they shot at the horizon at 99 balloons. 99 war ministers matches and gasoline canisters They thought they were clever people already smelled a nice bounty Called for war and wanted power. Man, who would've thought that things would someday go so far because of 99 balloons. 99 years of war left no room for victors. There are no more war ministers nor any jet fighters. Today I'm making my rounds see the world lying in ruins. I found a balloon, think of you and let it fly away.
So there we are, the mystery has been solved! Just for the record, here are the original German lryics by Carlo Karges.
	99 LUFTBALLONS Hast du etwas Zeit für mich Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich Von 99 Luftballons Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont Denkst du vielleicht g'rad an mich Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich Von 99 Luftballons Und dass so was von so was kommt 99 Luftballons Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont Hielt man für Ufos aus dem All Darum schickte ein General 'ne Fliegerstaffel hinterher Alarm zu geben, wenn es so wär Dabei war'n da am Horizont Nur 99 Luftballons 99 Düsenjäger Jeder war ein großer Krieger Hielten sich für Captain Kirk Das gab ein großes Feuerwerk Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft Und fühlten sich gleich angemacht Dabei schoss man am Horizont Auf 99 Luftballons 99 Kriegsminister - Streichholz und Benzinkanister - Hielten sich für schlaue Leute Witterten schon fette Beute Riefen Krieg und wollten Macht Mann, wer hätte das gedacht Dass es einmal soweit kommt Wegen 99 Luftballons 99 Jahre Krieg Ließen keinen Platz für Sieger Kriegsminister gibt's nicht mehr Und auch keine Düsenflieger Heute zieh' ich meine Runden Seh' die Welt in Trümmern liegen Hab' 'nen Luftballon gefunden Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen
Charlie Chaplin once said that to kill a man makes a villain, but to kill thousands of men (i.e. by being a head of state and going to war resulting in 1000's of deaths) makes a hero. Maybe not so according to the song 99 Balloons.

References: http://german.about.com/library/blmus_nena99luftbE.htm and http://www.80smusiclyrics.com/artists/nena.htm