Nena's, 
"99 Luftballoons" 
99 Luftballons
 Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
 Hielt man fuer UFOs aus dem All
 Darum schickte ein General
 Eine Fliegerstaffel hinterher
 Alarm zu geben, Wenn es so war
 Dabel war da am Horizont
 Nur 99 Luftballons
  99 Deusenjaeger
 Jeder war ein grosser Krieger
 Hiellen sich fuer Captain Kirk
 Das gab ein grosses Feuerwerk
 Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft
 Und fuehlten sich gleich angernacht
 Dabei schoss man am Horizont
 Auf 99 Luftballons
  99 Kriegsminister
 Streichholz und Benzinkanister
 Hielten sich fuer schlaue Leute
 Witterten schon fette Beute
 Riefen:  Krieg und wollten Macht
 Mann, wer haette das gedacht
 Dass es einmal soweit kommt
 Wegen 99 Luftballons
  99 Luftballons
  99 Jahre Krieg
 Liessen keinen Platz fuer sieger
 Kriegsminster gibt es nicht mehr
 Und auch keine Duesenflieger
 Heuteziehich meine Runden
 Seh die Welt in Truernmern liegen
 Hab' nen Luftballon gefunden
 Denk' an Dich und lass' ihn fliegen
These are the last four verses of the 1984 hit, "99 Luftballoons" by Nena (the first verse is difficult for me as an English speaker and writer to transcribe onto this site).  Back in 1983, the German synth rock/pop group Nena's song, "99 Luftballoons" seemed to be an odd choice for a #2 hit record in the U.S.  Considering it was one of a few social conscience tunes out at the time, and in German to boot.  It was definitely an anti-nuclear war tune, that perhaps a German audience could appreciate more at the time than could most audiences in the U.S. (since German was split during the cold war between the Communist East and the democratic West), and Germans were on the front line of the conflict between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union.  But alas it did become a hit in the U.S., especially when, in early 1984, Nena (led by lead singer Nena Kerner with 4 guys, a bassist, a guitarist, a drummer and a keyboardist -- just like most rock artists in the U.S. and Britain -- and even Australia and Canada), they re-recorded "99 Luftballoons" in English as "99 Red Balloons".   Although Nena would never achieve the long lasting fame of fellow German rockers, the Scorpions and Falco, with this one hit, "99 Luftballoons" they would become memorable to many 1980's young people, worldwide.    The song itself actually has some idea to it that the members of Nena had studied American history possibly better than many Americans did.   For their reference to the "99 Red Balloons", to comment on possible nuclear war, harked backed to a little known incident during World War II when the Japanese tried to attack the western U.S. (Oregon and Washington state) by using bombs set in what looked like normal red balloons (the Japanese did not succeed in the plot, but a few of the balloons did drift down and did explode -- injuring a few people for a few years).  Although both "99 Luftballoons" and the English version, "99 Red Balloons" became a #2 hit on Billboard Magazine's HOT 100 charts, in the rest of the English speaking world (Britain, Canada, Australia, etc), the English version didn't sell so well.  Many people are much more fond of the original German version for it's more rhyming of the lyrics than the English version has (and it almost seems to some that the English version is slap together as an afterthought).    The song itself would have a renewed interest and become a 1997 hit for a group named, Goldfinger.  Goldfinger's version oddly enough combines both the German and English version to come up with an interesting bilingual hit. 
Submitted by: Peter
 
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