[Lionhearted]

Recently rediscovered this song. The lyrics were written by Nena's guitar player, Carlo Karges. The song was released in the US in both German and English, though the English version is not a direct translation of the German version. The German version actually charted much better than the English version. Although it's really an anti-nuke tune, I felt like the lines I emboldened in the fourth stanza (verse?) seemed very pertinent today. BTW if someone speaks German, allow me to apologize in advance if there are any errors in the translation, I neither speak nor read German so I am taking a leap of faith the translation is correct:


Hast Du etwas Zeit fuer mich If you have some time for me
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich Then I'll sing a song for you
Von 99 Luftballons About 99 balloons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont On their way to the horizon
Denkst Du vielleicht grad' an mich Perhaps you think of me a bit
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich Then I'll sing a song for you
Von 99 Luftballons About 99 balloons
Und dass sowas von sowas kommt And that something (like the war) comes from such a thing (the balloons)
99 Luftballons 99 balloons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont On their way to the horizon
Hielt man fuer UFOs aus dem All Seemed like UFOs from space
Darum schickte ein General So a general sent
'ne Fliegerstaffel hinterher A flying squad out there
Alarm zu geben, wenn's so waer To raise the alarm if it was true
Dabei war'n da am Horizont Yet there on the horizon were
Nur 99 Luftballons Only 99 balloons

99 Duesenjaeger 99 jet hunters
Jeder war ein grosser Krieger Each one was a great warrior
Hielten sich fuer Captain Kirk Thought that they were Captain Kirk
Das gab ein grosses Feuerwerk There were great fireworks
Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft The neighbors didn't understand anything
Und fuehlten sich gleich angemacht And immediately felt "pissed off"
Dabei schoss man am Horizont Yet there they shot on the horizon
Auf 99 Luftballons At 99 balloons

99 Kriegsminister 99 war ministers
Streichholz und Benzinkanister Matches and petrol cans
Hielten sich fuer schlaue Leute Thought that they were clever people
Witterten schon fette Beute Already smelled greasy loot
Riefen: Krieg und wollten Macht Shouted: War, and wanted power
Mann, wer haette das gedacht Man, who would have thought
Dass es einmal soweit kommt That one day it would come to this
Wegen 99 Luftballons Because of 99 balloons

99 Jahre Krieg 99 years of war
Liessen keinen Platz fuer Sieger Don't leave a place for victors
Kriegsminister gibt's nicht mehr There are no ministers any more
Und auch keine Duesenflieger No jet engines either
Heute zieh ich meine Runden Today I'm doing my rounds
Seh' die Welt in Truemmern liegen Seeing the world lying in ruins
Hab' 'nen Luftballon gefunden Found a balloon
Denk' an Dich und lass' ihn fliegen Think of you and let it fly

[-V-]

thanks for the translation. Though I've heard both versions many times I never contemplated the lyrics.

[Jennifer_SFBA]

That one speaks truth , Lionhearted. Thank you for posting that.

[Lionhearted]

Damn, what a maroon I are. I neglected to mention that although the English version is not a direct translation of the German version, what is posted here is a direct translation of the German. D'oh! Sorry folks.

[haus]

I was in high school in the 80's, and (well almost) everyone in my clique was a) a big pop music fan and b) took 4 years of german. Long story short: gnarly tune, dude! Saw it in concert. :)

I think most German, and for that matter, most European arts will probably feel far to the left, because the society they're coming out of is far to our left.

If you like the new-wave, disco/punk kinda stuff, Nina Hagen is an artist that sticks with me 20 years later. For example Atomic Flash Deluxe (lyrics (http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/n/ninahagen10750/atomicflashdeluxe1064210.html)/video (http://youtube.com/watch?v=SlO4mkAxfPU))

Here's something more representative of how she sounded in the 80's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-r9TQmpkNA. I think her hair alone is worth a look.

[Lionhearted]

Thanks for the link haus. The song in that video was one of a couple of songs that I thought of when you brought up Nina Hagen (the other being Universal Radio).
Oh that hair! ... and eye makeup and footwear, lol!

[Wafflepudding]

How many people that only heard (and know) the english version actually get that the song is about accidental nuclear war? I wonder...