99 Red Balloons question
Ken Duffey
1980's hit by Nena - 99 Red Balloons.
The song is about a bunch of balloons setting off an early warning radar
and causing the launch of an alert flight of fighters.
IIRC, the song is based on a true-life incident that was bandied about
at the time of the song's release - early 1980's.
Anyone have any details - or is it just an urban legend ??
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ken Duffey - Flanker Freak & Russian Aviation Enthusiast
Flankers Website - http://www.flankers.co.uk/
Genuine E-mailers - remove the x after uk
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Yeff
Ken Duffey<kend...@flankerman.fsnet.co.ukx> wrote in
rec.aviation.military:
> I have just been listening to my CD's and one of the tracks was the
> 1980's hit by Nena - 99 Red Balloons.
>
> The song is about a bunch of balloons setting off an early warning radar
> and causing the launch of an alert flight of fighters.
>
> IIRC, the song is based on a true-life incident that was bandied about
> at the time of the song's release - early 1980's.
>
> Anyone have any details - or is it just an urban legend ??
As I remember the story, Nena was at a concert given at
the Berlin Wall (Pink Floyd?). She saw some balloons
drifting over the wall and that gave her the idea for
the song.
-Jeff B.
yeff at erols dot com
Ken Duffey
Damn !!
I like my urban legend better - that the song was based on a real-life alert
incident caused by a bunch of kid's balloons.
Oh well - back to reality.
Lorne D. Gilsig
It is just an urban legend. I'm not even sure toy balloons would even show
up on radar.
Lorne D. Gilsig
Ken Duffey wrote:
> I have just been listening to my CD's and one of the tracks was the
> 1980's hit by Nena - 99 Red Balloons.
>
> The song is about a bunch of balloons setting off an early warning radar
> and causing the launch of an alert flight of fighters.
>
> IIRC, the song is based on a true-life incident that was bandied about
> at the time of the song's release - early 1980's.
>
> Anyone have any details - or is it just an urban legend ??
>
David Bromage
> As I remember the story, Nena was at a concert
Point of order. Nena was the name of the entire band, not just lead singer
Nena Kerner.
Cheers
David (shocked that I remember so much 80s trivia)
matheson
when I was stationed at Spang. Even Armed Forces Radio played the German
version.
Les
David Bromage <dbro...@fang.omni.com.au> wrote in message
news:8fZY4.784$r37.4...@news0.optus.net.au...
David Bromage
> Yeah, but the song was much better in the original German. All the rage
> when I was stationed at Spang. Even Armed Forces Radio played the German
> version.
The song was simultaneously number 1 and 2 on the Australian charts. :)
Cheers
David
Yeff
anlushac11<anlus...@home.com> wrote in
rec.aviation.military:
> IIRC, In the event of war between east and west, this was referred to as" the
> ballon has gone up" meaning the cold war just got hot. There were several times
> where due to an electronics glitch or a plain ol' SNAFU things almost heated
> up. A red ballon going up would mean that we were at war. I thought that the
> song meant that war had been declared and went nuclear.
Nope.
Just a person who saw a bunch of balloons drifting
into East Germany and writing a song. The more I
think of it the more I'm sure it was a Pink Floyd
concert at the Berlin Wall for their album, "The
Wall".
anlushac11
ballon has gone up" meaning the cold war just got hot. There were several times
where due to an electronics glitch or a plain ol' SNAFU things almost heated
up. A red ballon going up would mean that we were at war. I thought that the
song meant that war had been declared and went nuclear.
In article <8h12od$i58$1...@bob.news.rcn.net>, ye...@spamcop.net says...
>
>In article <39340CD8...@flankerman.fsnet.co.ukx>,
> Ken Duffey<kend...@flankerman.fsnet.co.ukx> wrote in
> rec.aviation.military:
>
>> I have just been listening to my CD's and one of the tracks was the
>> 1980's hit by Nena - 99 Red Balloons.
>>
>> The song is about a bunch of balloons setting off an early warning radar
>> and causing the launch of an alert flight of fighters.
>>
>> IIRC, the song is based on a true-life incident that was bandied about
>> at the time of the song's release - early 1980's.
>>
>> Anyone have any details - or is it just an urban legend ??
>
>As I remember the story, Nena was at a concert given at
>the Berlin Wall (Pink Floyd?). She saw some balloons
>drifting over the wall and that gave her the idea for
>the song.
>
Yeff
matheson<lmath...@earthlink.net> wrote in
rec.aviation.military:
> Yeah, but the song was much better in the original German. All the rage
> when I was stationed at Spang. Even Armed Forces Radio played the German
> version.
>
> Les
From what I remember living in Maryland,
you never knew which version of the song
was going to come on the radio (whichever
a caller had requested).
MTV did seem to be pushing the English
version though.
Joe Sambor
Red Balloons" was released in 1984 and "The Wall-Live in Berlin" Concert
happened on July 21, 1990. Could not have been "Nena's" inspiration. (The
lead vocalist's real name is Gabriele Susanne Kerner). "Nena" actually did
nine albums in all, the last one in 1997.
For anyone who is interested, here are the English lyrics....
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
Where 99 red balloons go by.
99 Decision Street, 99 ministers meet
To worry, worry, super-scurry
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 Silverhero
Everyone's a Captain Kirk
With orders to identify
To clarify and classify
Scramble in the summer sky
As 99 red balloons go by.
99 dreams I have had
In every one a red balloon
It's all over and I'm standin' pretty
In this dust that was a city
If I could find a souvenier
Just to prove the world was here...
And here is a red balloon
I think of you and let it go.
And the German lyrics....
Hast Du etwas Zeit fuer mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Denkst Du vielleicht grad' an mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Und dass sowas von sowas kommt
99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Hielt man fuer UFOs aus dem All
Darum schickte ein General
'ne Fliegerstaffel hinterher
Alarm zu geben, wenn's so waer
Dabei war'n da am Horizont
Nur 99 Luftballons
99 Duesenjaeger
Jeder war ein grosser Krieger
Hielten sich fuer Captain Kirk
Das gab ein grosses Feuerwerk
Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft
Und fuehlten sich gleich angemacht
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 Jahre Krieg
Liessen keinen Platz fuer Sieger
Kriegsminister gibt's nicht mehr
Und auch keine Duesenflieger
Heute zieh ich meine Runden
Seh' die Welt in Truemmern liegen
Hab' 'nen Luftballon gefunden
Denk' an Dich und lass' ihn fliegen
Here's a link to a site where you can buy the CD for $7.09 and hear MP3
clips of both the English and German versions.
http://cheap-cds.com/surf/disps/021831
Here's a better site where you can hear a RealAudio clip of the whole song
in English.
http://www.top40gold.com/artist/n/nena-99.red.balloons.html
Not much fun if you don't speak German, but here is Nena's "Official" Fan
Site (by a Japanese guy!?! Talk about universal appeal!):
A remake of 99 Red Balloons by "Goldfinger" is currently #10 on the MTV
(Germany) music charts!!
Another interesting site from CNN of all people, noting that "99 Red
Balloons" is part of the "Atomic Rock" genre:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/experience/culture/atomic.rock/
Interestingly enough, the release date of the album is given as 1983 on this
web site.
The song is a special memory for me...when I saw it on MTV, I was at Shaw
AFB watching TV with my roommate. He commented, after seeing Gabriele Kerner
in a sleeveless shirt as she performed, raising her arms and displaying her
unshaven armpits, "How would you like to lick the sweat from those armpits?"
My head hurts, I think I will go to bed now. I apologize for the length of
this post and am somewhat saddened by the fact that some of you out there
will surely be glad that I'm not the Lockheed guy at your base after reading
it.
Joe Sambor
LM Aero F-16 Field Service
Chiayi AB, ROC
Clifford D. Statum
<Joe_an...@bigfoot.com> wrote:
Many thanks for the German lyrics. As a former 203X1 MJ
(German language voice intercept operator) I distinctly
remember 'Nuenundneunzig Luftballonen'.
I remain curious why it would be translated into
'99 Red Balloons', the the German word for red
(rot) is absent.
Oh well.......
Demotic
> Many thanks for the German lyrics. As a former 203X1 MJ
> (German language voice intercept operator) I distinctly
> remember 'Nuenundneunzig Luftballonen'.
> I remain curious why it would be translated into
> '99 Red Balloons', the the German word for red
> (rot) is absent.
'Cause it's got rhythm...it fits in the song. Besides, there's no such
concept in English as "air balloons", unless you mean "hot-air balloons",
which the song doesn't refer to...or maybe it does, a hot-air balloon would(?)
show up on an air defense radar, but certainly 99 of them wouldn't be
affordable by some German chick.
There was also some short film back then that featured a boy chasing a red
balloon around the city, and I remember thinking at the time that somehow
the two were linked, although they probably had no connection whatsoever,
so maybe Nena just wanted to glom off of that short film's popularity, in
a way. Who knows..
> Oh well.......
>>Not to burst anyone's bubble (or should it be pop anyone's balloon?) but "99
>>Red Balloons" was released in 1984 and "The Wall-Live in Berlin" Concert
>>happened on July 21, 1990. Could not have been "Nena's" inspiration. (The
>>lead vocalist's real name is Gabriele Susanne Kerner). "Nena" actually did
>>nine albums in all, the last one in 1997.
--
Another strange thing is the observation that the process of reading
English and reading Japanese - two languages which seem to have nothing in
common - are virtually identical from a neurological standpoint. Japanese
people read words from glyphs (kanji) that symbolize a concept. You might
think that English speaking people read every letter and sound out the
word, but except for beginners they don't. English speakers read basically
the same way as japanese people do - they look at the shape of the word
and maybe one or two letters and derive the meaning from that. (This is
why English-speaking people still recognize a word even if it is mispelled
- they aren't actually looking at all the letters.)
-- Anonymous
Albert H. Dobyns
I think VH1 plays the English version video during
their One-Hit-Wonders fiestas or maybe top 100 of
all time. Been awhile since I've watched it. I
used to live in MD in different places located near
I-495 (back when the whole Beltway was called I-495).
I never knew which version they would play until
the music started.
Al (old SR-71 nut)
Lorne D. Gilsig
Lorne D. Gilsig
JetEB
the early 80's/Reagan era...The song refers to the 99 nuclear armed Ground
Launched Cruise Missiles deployed in Europe at the time....She sings about
watching the "99 Red Balloons go by"....The red balloons apparently referring
to the nuclear warheads inside...
Corsair
german version. Some parts are the same, the basic story is the same,
but the english version is not a direct translation. In german the song
was 99 Luft Balloons (which is like 99 Air Balloons or 99 Flying
Balloons).
"Clifford D. Statum" wrote:
>
> On Wed, 31 May 2000 21:45:36 +0800, "Joe Sambor"
> <Joe_an...@bigfoot.com> wrote:
>
> Many thanks for the German lyrics. As a former 203X1 MJ
> (German language voice intercept operator) I distinctly
> remember 'Nuenundneunzig Luftballonen'.
>
> I remain curious why it would be translated into
> '99 Red Balloons', the the German word for red
> (rot) is absent.
>
> Oh well.......
>
> >Not to burst anyone's bubble (or should it be pop anyone's balloon?) but "99
> >Red Balloons" was released in 1984 and "The Wall-Live in Berlin" Concert
> >happened on July 21, 1990. Could not have been "Nena's" inspiration. (The
> >lead vocalist's real name is Gabriele Susanne Kerner). "Nena" actually did
> >nine albums in all, the last one in 1997.
> >
--
Corsair
The "Jolly Rogers" Past & Present
www.Jolly-Rogers.com
Albert H. Dobyns
I forgot who listed her full name, but IIRC this
Prof in Germany and I chatted about the song. Seems
like "Nena" is something like a generic name for
a grandmother or some relationship like that. Can
anyone comment on this?
Al
David Bromage
My German is pretty rusty, but I was tought it was Opa and Oma for
grandfather and grandmother. There could be other names.
Cheers
David
Ralph Gloor
the name "Nena" means nothing special - it's just another usual name...
(actually it was the name of the ba nd)
other names for Grandfather and -mother are "Nona" and "Nono"
you can find more infos about her on www.nena.de (or maybe .com for an
english version)
to download the song "99 Luftballons" try this link
http://www.nena.de/nena/hp_g/html/real.shtml
cheers
Ralph
"David Bromage" <dbro...@fang.omni.com.au> wrote in message
news:PEF_4.790$Rb7.4...@news0.optus.net.au...
MegaShaft 4000
Well, sort of...
Instead of my living room, they're in my basement, and instead of dead
baboons, they are Human corpses.
"Strayhorn" <k...@duke.edu> wrote in message
news:kes-050600...@strayhorn.dukecomm.duke.edu...
> In article <39374C68...@rcn.com>, "Lorne D. Gilsig"
> <dataw...@rcn.com> wrote:
>
> > Of course I always will remember the spoof version of the hit, 99 dead
> baboons.
>
> Especially since it was superior to the original, just as Wierd Al's spoof
"Like
> A Surgeon" is better than anything Madonna ever did.
>
> "99 dead baboons, sitting in my living room . . . "
>
> --
> Strayhorn
>
> Not Duke policy, etc.
>
> "Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe." - J. Lennon
Lorne
Lorne D. Gilsig
Marc M Reeve
> matheson<lmath...@earthlink.net> wrote in
> rec.aviation.military:
>
>> Yeah, but the song was much better in the original German. All the rage
>> when I was stationed at Spang. Even Armed Forces Radio played the German
>> version.
>>
>you never knew which version of the song
>was going to come on the radio (whichever
>a caller had requested).
>
>MTV did seem to be pushing the English
>version though.
>
Billboard Top 40, when that list still existed) had a mix version which
alternated verses from the German and English versions.
And the 45 has both versions on it.
-Marc
--
Marc Reeve cmr...@SPAM.ucsc.edu
Don't mistake my opinions for those of the University of California.
Cats don't like SPAM.
Bailey of Belgium
time" in 1984: as I recall, the actual missiles--and their
warheads--weren't deployed until somewhat later. For example,
the 485th Tactical Missile Wing at Florennes Air Base here in
Belgium was one of the USAF GLCM units, and had not achieved
full IOC by the time it was deactivated under the terms of the
INF treaty (1987). The last Yanks left the base in 1989,
leaving a lot of nice new buildings which are currently used by
the AIRNORTH Tactical Leadership Programme.
Cheers,
B_o_B
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