In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Hast du etwas Zeit für mich?
Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich
Von neunundneunzig Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Denkst du vielleicht grad an mich?
Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich
Von neunundneunzig Luftballons
Und, dass so was von so was kommt
Neunundneunzig Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Hielt man für UFOs aus dem All
Darum schickte ein General
'Ne Fliegerstaffel hinterher
Alarm zu geben, wenn's so wär'
Dabei waren dort am Horizont
Nur neunundneunzig Luftballons
Neunundneunzig Düsenflieger
Jeder war ein großer Krieger
Hielten sich für Captain Kirk
Es gab ein großes Feuerwerk
Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft
Und fühlten sich gleich angemacht
Dabei schoss man am Horizont
Auf neunundneunzig Luftballons
Neunundneunzig 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 neunundneunzig Luftballons
Wegen neunundneunzig Luftballons
Neunundneunzig Luftballons
Neunundneunzig 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 'n Luftballon gefunden
Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen
Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich
Von neunundneunzig Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Denkst du vielleicht grad an mich?
Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich
Von neunundneunzig Luftballons
Und, dass so was von so was kommt
Neunundneunzig Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Hielt man für UFOs aus dem All
Darum schickte ein General
'Ne Fliegerstaffel hinterher
Alarm zu geben, wenn's so wär'
Dabei waren dort am Horizont
Nur neunundneunzig Luftballons
Neunundneunzig Düsenflieger
Jeder war ein großer Krieger
Hielten sich für Captain Kirk
Es gab ein großes Feuerwerk
Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft
Und fühlten sich gleich angemacht
Dabei schoss man am Horizont
Auf neunundneunzig Luftballons
Neunundneunzig 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 neunundneunzig Luftballons
Wegen neunundneunzig Luftballons
Neunundneunzig Luftballons
Neunundneunzig 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 'n Luftballon gefunden
Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen
Lyrics submitted by AmandaPanda345
99 Luftballons Lyrics as written by Carlo Karges Joern-uwe Fahrenkrog-peterson
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Don't know if anyone's interested, but I thought I'd have a go at writing a translation of the German lyrics in a slightly less literal manner, one that could be sung to the original tune. I prefer the German lyrics to the official English version that Nena sang, and have always wondered whether they could have done the English version better. What do people think?
My version:
If you have a little time Please listen to this song of mine Of ninety nine hot air balloons On their way, on the horizon It won’t be long before I’m through This little song I’ll sing for you Of ninety nine hot air balloons And how they brought the world to doom.
Ninety nine hot air balloons On their way, on the horizon An air force general watched them go And thought they were a UFO He gave the word to all the jets And ordered them to intercept But it was ninety nine balloons On their way, on the horizon
Ninety nine jet fighter aces Scrambling from the air force bases Each one felt like Captain Kirk The sky lit up like fireworks! The leaders of the neighbouring lands Saw but didn’t understand All the bombs and all the guns For ninety nine hot air ballons
Ninety nine security ministers Loved the threat of something sinister Drew their maps and made their plans Took their matches and petrol cans And called their people out to war The sparks were lit, we never saw That everything could end so soon Because of ninety nine balloons
Ninety nine long years of war There are no winners any more Not even one jet fighter ace Ministers gone without a trace Today I’m going on my rounds Over the scorched and barren ground Here I’ve found one last balloon Let it go and thought of you.
Wow, great lyrics...although horizon doesn't seem to rhyme at all^^
what a wonderful interpretation of these lyrics! i don't know german, but what you've come up with is much more eloquent than the literal translation that i get from translation software and is also much more story-like and interesting than the english version i grew up listening to on the radio. thank you!
Very nice, indeed, neiledward. I was a senior in high school when this song was released and have very fond memories of my two best friends and I studying for our physics final the spring of '83 with the radio cranked, hearing this - about once an hour! - and all those other wonderful new wave tunes that 'plagued' the mid-80's. I loved and still love 'em all! It's funny, because I was outraged and embarrassed, both, that the English version sounded so hokey. Though I knew what the song was about, what it was 'saying', I didn't know exactly what the German words meant but I still much preferred the German version. I took German in college and realized how far off the English translation was. It's not even a translation in many places, maybe a interpretation at best. Yuck. Anyway.. Gut gemacht!
@neiledward: "[I] have always wondered whether they could have done the English version better".<br /> <br /> Well, the band thinks they could have done better.<br /> <br /> Their label hired Kevin McAlea (one of Kate Bush's songwriters) to translate the song. From the start, they weren't completely satisfied with the translation, but they agreed to record it anyway. Comments from the three people involved in writing it:<br /> <br /> Carlo (who wrote most of the original lyrics): "It's a completely different story, not my song".<br /> <br /> Uwe (who wrote the music and helped with the lyrics): "It was a mistake: "The song loses something in translation and even sounds silly". After hearing Seven Seconds' punk cover: "This is the band that was meant to perform this version, not us. We couldn't be that super-earnest. We're not 16."<br /> <br /> Nena: "It's far too blatant and strident. We're not a protest band".<br /> <br /> Nena has never sung the English version live. Even in the UK, where the German version never charted (unlike the US, Australia, and Canada), she refuses to sing it.
@neiledward Doesn’t Luftballons mean those small ~30cm balloons (like the ones at a party) that you inflate with lungs or with a helium pump, not hot air balloons for travelling/adventure?