She does have a magical voice- I became addicted to it and bought everything from her I can find. Her first album was in 1979, her last was in 2020 and she's still going strong!
This song is as relevant today as it was back then. We are stuck in 1984 literally. The more things change the more they stay the same. Where's the Utopia we were promised?...SMH
The idea for the song came about from an event that was taking place at the Berlin Wall. Balloons were released at which point the start German soldiers began shooting at them. The English version is a very good translation of the song. When the song first came out, I was raking german in college and it was fun listening to it. When I saw the video, I had an instant crush on Nena and wanted to go to Germany. Well, I ended up joking the army a few years later and got my wish-I was stationed in Mannheim, Germany, Coleman Army Airfield. I ended up living in Germany for 18 amazing years. Four of those years were in the military and fourteen were as an ex-pat. Nena developed a bad drug habit and left the music scene for many years. She did recover and make a comeback, though. While “99 Luftballons” was definitely her top hit she did have a couple of songs that charted okay. “I Just Had a Dream” came out at the same time and is a decent song. I arrived in Germany in April, 1986. At that time, Falco had a song that was banned from the airwaves for a while, “Jeanny.” Check that one out with subtitles. It is a great song. By the way, Nena was part of the “Neue Deutsche Welle,” -german new wave music.
I attended her October 25 concert in Berlin. I actually flew from from Boston to Berlin, just for the concert. It was awesome. She puts on a great show and is still active at 64.
This song still stands up. Her voice is kind of vulnerable, which knowing the context of the song makes it more meaningful. I knew there was a German version, they played the English version a lot in the UK
Hi Stan, YES to all the questions. I’m old. It was from the early 80’s close to when Karen Carpenter died. I heard both versions and prefer the German one over the English one but she sings great in both. There’s just something of an urgency in the German language that is accentuated by. I think in the US it classifies as a One Hit Wonder but I have no idea if she had a career in Europe. Like Aha was a 1HW but had a massive career in Europe. I too loved her voice and well, look. ❤️ Great reaction and maybe play the English version also? The closed captions seemed out of sync. What little German I can comprehend. Joe
There are multiple good songs by Nena. I don't know if they have good english subtitles tho. "Nur geträumt", "Irgendwie Irgendwo Irgendwann" (better than the English remake version with Kim Wilde), "Haus der 3 Sonnen" (one of my favourites), "Wunder gescheh'n".
One of the best songs to come out of the 80s Euro music scene! Her voice just made me appreciate the German language even more when I was a kid. My father was fluent in German, a very beautiful yet gutteral language and her dialect is fantastic
Yup I knew there were both versions. I still have the 45 record with either version on each side. I don't speak Deutsche but for some reason I prefer that one!
Nice reaction. The Cold War was at it's height, The US/West on once side, the Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact on the other with Germany in the middle. I was stationed in Germany at the time (got to be there for the Wall falling too! Big stuff!) in a tank battalion and honestly the resignation in her voice was real (everyone figured war between the super powers was inevitable) and fear was always right under the surface...probably why the Germans I would party with hit it so hard! Anyway, thanks again!
This song was created in 1983. At the end of march it reached the charts in GERMANY (BRD) on Place 1 (for 23 Weeks); AUSTRIA, 1., (14 W.); SWITZERLAND, 1., (11 W.); UK, 1., (12 W.); the US (Billboard), 2., (23 W.) and on place 1 in Japan, Mexico, Canada and Australia. In February 1984 the english version reached the UK-Charts on place 1 for three weeks... :o)
Thanks for playing the German version; it's so much better, so much more powerful, than the English one if you know what the lyrics mean. My German isn't up to snuff, so the captions were a good idea.
American version? I'm American. Let's call it the English version, or the English language version. I too love her voice. Today she's possibly among the sexiest grandmas out there :)
So I remember this song hitting the radio in the 80s in Boston. Supposedly the story goes is that a DJ in Los Angeles played the German version by mistake and a ton of people called in asking to hear it again
Nena is a big star of the "Neue Deutsche Welle" - "New German Wave" in the early 80s. The song fits in time so well. At the beginning of the 80s there was a large peace movement in East and West. Many people protested for peace, against nuclear power and against the stationing of US nuclear missiles in West Germany. With Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (SPD - Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands - Social Democratic Party of Germany) the stationing of these nuclear missiles would never have happened. I think that was one reason why Helmut Schmidt had to resign as Chancellor and was replaced by Helmut Kohl (CDU - Christlich Demokratische Union - Christian Democratic Union) in the following elections. It is a tradition in the CDU to do whatever the USA wants, no matter how wrong it is. It's nice to see that you react to songs in other languages. That's not common on youtube. From Nena I recommend "Nur geträumt", "Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann" and "Leuchtturm". And here are some other Stars, Peter Schilling - "Völlig losgelöst", Joachim Witt - "Goldener Reiter", Trio - "Da, Da, Da", DÖF - "Codo", France Gall - "Ella Elle la", Vanessa Paradis - "Joe le taxi", Desireless - "Voyage, Voyage", Bingo Bongo - "Geil", Jennifer Rush - "The power of love", Falco - "Vienna Calling" and Richard Sanderson - "Reality". You doing a great job, man.❤👍
So yeah; I knew. Back in the 80s, when this song came out, MTV and radio stations would play both versions.I loved them both but prefer the German version more. The album did one side in English, and the second side was German, but only this song was sung twice. I did find their all German album; which I bought, but that's not important. MTV did play a second song; 'Hangin' On You', which you can listen to. My favorites were' Let Me Be Your Pirate' and Kino (which I later found an Extended Single of, which featured the English version , 'At The Movies'). Kino was a song about going to the movie house on Saturday and watching old movies from the 30s and 40s
We had one pop station at the time (US). They gave both the German and English version pretty equal play. When that opening chord starts it was "ok which version this time". Funny but at that time we also had a girl exchange student from Germany. I remember her saying that "yes the German title is 99 red ballons" in our Spanish class we were both in.
those of us of genx grew up seriously wondering if nuclear war was coming tomorrow the fear was a daily people who came after the wall fell will never truly understand what that was like and why music like this and movie like The Day After or the original Red Dawn mean so much to us
I never liked the English version; the band was compelled by their label to make it, and changing the lyrics to English changed the meaning of the track. Besides, this is the version Casey Kasem played for us at the time😊
In the original version, this one in German, it's not red balloons. 99 luftballoons is 99 air balloons. They had to add another syllabus for the English version to work, and so they added the word red.
“Nur geträumt” is the only other Nena song I know and this live TV performance should make you want to get your Captain Kirk on! ua-cam.com/video/K-WrzSjcK3I/v-deo.htmlsi=t4jdCk97o1XFcxY7
So i think you gotta try *anyplace, anywhwhere, anytime *together with Kim Wilde (a remake of Nenas own song *irgendwie, irgendwo irgendwann*) or maybe *Leuchtturm*
I was in high school Germany when this song came out. We used to listen to it all the time on the long bus trips to track meets. I knew it was a war protest song. I heard the English version when we moved back to the States. I prefer the German version. The forced translation of the lyrics don't fit the music as well.
Very Good Song.. Big worldwide hit.. English version was also popular on radio and tv. Nena and Kim Wilde - "Anyplace Anywhere Anytime" - ua-cam.com/video/l8_8oeGwfnQ/v-deo.html. Good Beat..
It means "99 Ministers of War, matches and cans of gasoline" in English, not that impressive. But it's a sick bar in German: "Neunundneunzig Kriegsminister, Streichholz und Benzinkanister".
Hi.. There another German song, about war.. With a strong female voice..check. ,,Null positiv - wo Rauch ist, ist auch Feuer,, ///and enjoy without understanding lyrics. ✌️... War, s so close today here in Europe. ☹️
She does have a magical voice- I became addicted to it and bought everything from her I can find. Her first album was in 1979, her last was in 2020 and she's still going strong!
Yep, most people are still not aware this was an anti war protest song💯
Ah lose long ago times when the Republicans weren’t insane and the Russians weren’t murderous!
The fighter airplanes (Jägerflieger), ministers of war (Kriegsminister) etc. Were not enough of a clue?😂
This song is as relevant today as it was back then. We are stuck in 1984 literally. The more things change the more they stay the same. Where's the Utopia we were promised?...SMH
@@jimglenn6972 Republicans are still not insane. Stop getting your "news" from propagandists. Seriously. You make me sad.
i am 65 years old and i was aware the first time i heard this song- i grew up when songs were used to make social commentary
Totally - get up and dance. We lived through it and are thankful for it. I love this song so much. I love the German version more, but I get it.
Great music never dies.
The German version was the first version to hit the states and is the best version
I learned back in 1981 what the term "when the balloon goes up"
one of my fave 80s songs! ♥
The idea for the song came about from an event that was taking place at the Berlin Wall. Balloons were released at which point the start German soldiers began shooting at them.
The English version is a very good translation of the song.
When the song first came out, I was raking german in college and it was fun listening to it.
When I saw the video, I had an instant crush on Nena and wanted to go to Germany.
Well, I ended up joking the army a few years later and got my wish-I was stationed in Mannheim, Germany, Coleman Army Airfield.
I ended up living in Germany for 18 amazing years. Four of those years were in the military and fourteen were as an ex-pat.
Nena developed a bad drug habit and left the music scene for many years. She did recover and make a comeback, though.
While “99 Luftballons” was definitely her top hit she did have a couple of songs that charted okay. “I Just Had a Dream” came out at the same time and is a decent song.
I arrived in Germany in April, 1986. At that time, Falco had a song that was banned from the airwaves for a while, “Jeanny.” Check that one out with subtitles. It is a great song.
By the way, Nena was part of the “Neue Deutsche Welle,” -german new wave music.
I attended her October 25 concert in Berlin. I actually flew from from Boston to Berlin, just for the concert. It was awesome. She puts on a great show and is still active at 64.
"Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" Nena - maybe ?
This song still stands up.
Her voice is kind of vulnerable, which knowing the context of the song makes it more meaningful.
I knew there was a German version, they played the English version a lot in the UK
Y'all got that right!!
The german version was first. They added the english version after they got a lot of international success with that album.
Great reaction to the song with original lyrics. I was very much in love with the blonde curly haired keyboard player 😂
@@keyboard5494 He actually IS 🤣🤣🤣
Saw a picture of him on Google a few years ago, but recent photos show him with hair so maybe the bald head was a choice
Hi Stan, YES to all the questions. I’m old. It was from the early 80’s close to when Karen Carpenter died. I heard both versions and prefer the German one over the English one but she sings great in both. There’s just something of an urgency in the German language that is accentuated by. I think in the US it classifies as a One Hit Wonder but I have no idea if she had a career in Europe. Like Aha was a 1HW but had a massive career in Europe. I too loved her voice and well, look. ❤️
Great reaction and maybe play the English version also? The closed captions seemed out of sync. What little German I can comprehend.
Joe
cool the German version, much better than the English one.
German version so much better than the English version. Good choice.
I remember both songs. I like to try to recall the German I studied in school to try to understand her, haha.
This takes me back when I was 5 years old 😂
Same
The Gernan version hits so much harder. The words play of each other so much better.
There are multiple good songs by Nena. I don't know if they have good english subtitles tho.
"Nur geträumt", "Irgendwie Irgendwo Irgendwann" (better than the English remake version with Kim Wilde), "Haus der 3 Sonnen" (one of my favourites), "Wunder gescheh'n".
Worldwide Hit❤
Mega Mega Mega Nena ❤
and she just gets better and better every year that goes by
A huge hit. Cold War pop.
One of the best songs to come out of the 80s Euro music scene! Her voice just made me appreciate the German language even more when I was a kid. My father was fluent in German, a very beautiful yet gutteral language and her dialect is fantastic
Yup I knew there were both versions. I still have the 45 record with either version on each side. I don't speak Deutsche but for some reason I prefer that one!
Same here
It's flows naturally- and is much darker lyrically
Nice reaction. The Cold War was at it's height, The US/West on once side, the Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact on the other with Germany in the middle. I was stationed in Germany at the time (got to be there for the Wall falling too! Big stuff!) in a tank battalion and honestly the resignation in her voice was real (everyone figured war between the super powers was inevitable) and fear was always right under the surface...probably why the Germans I would party with hit it so hard! Anyway, thanks again!
This song was created in 1983. At the end of march it reached the charts in GERMANY (BRD) on Place 1 (for 23 Weeks); AUSTRIA, 1., (14 W.); SWITZERLAND, 1., (11 W.); UK, 1., (12 W.); the US (Billboard), 2., (23 W.) and on place 1 in Japan, Mexico, Canada and Australia. In February 1984 the english version reached the UK-Charts on place 1 for three weeks... :o)
Thanks for playing the German version; it's so much better, so much more powerful, than the English one if you know what the lyrics mean. My German isn't up to snuff, so the captions were a good idea.
🎈🎈🎈 Great reaction to a Great song 👍
American version? I'm American. Let's call it the English version, or the English language version. I too love her voice. Today she's possibly among the sexiest grandmas out there :)
So I remember this song hitting the radio in the 80s in Boston. Supposedly the story goes is that a DJ in Los Angeles played the German version by mistake and a ton of people called in asking to hear it again
Nena is a big star of the "Neue Deutsche Welle" - "New German Wave" in the early 80s. The song fits in time so well. At the beginning of the 80s there was a large peace movement in East and West. Many people protested for peace, against nuclear power and against the stationing of US nuclear missiles in West Germany. With Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (SPD - Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands - Social Democratic Party of Germany) the stationing of these nuclear missiles would never have happened. I think that was one reason why Helmut Schmidt had to resign as Chancellor and was replaced by Helmut Kohl (CDU - Christlich Demokratische Union - Christian Democratic Union) in the following elections. It is a tradition in the CDU to do whatever the USA wants, no matter how wrong it is. It's nice to see that you react to songs in other languages. That's not common on youtube. From Nena I recommend "Nur geträumt", "Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann" and "Leuchtturm". And here are some other Stars, Peter Schilling - "Völlig losgelöst", Joachim Witt - "Goldener Reiter", Trio - "Da, Da, Da", DÖF - "Codo", France Gall - "Ella Elle la", Vanessa Paradis - "Joe le taxi", Desireless - "Voyage, Voyage", Bingo Bongo - "Geil", Jennifer Rush - "The power of love", Falco - "Vienna Calling" and Richard Sanderson - "Reality". You doing a great job, man.❤👍
Kind of funny how there were no protest against the Soviet SS-20 missiles starting in the late 1970s'.
Us Brits were the only ones to have it translated into English language because of the whole war thing
So yeah; I knew. Back in the 80s, when this song came out, MTV and radio stations would play both versions.I loved them both but prefer the German version more. The album did one side in English, and the second side was German, but only this song was sung twice. I did find their all German album; which I bought, but that's not important.
MTV did play a second song; 'Hangin' On You', which you can listen to. My favorites were' Let Me Be Your Pirate' and Kino (which I later found an Extended Single of, which featured the English version , 'At The Movies'). Kino was a song about going to the movie house on Saturday and watching old movies from the 30s and 40s
I was stationed in Germany when this song came out.
I used to listen to her as a kid and I didn't know until I got older with the meaning behind the lyrics were
We had one pop station at the time (US). They gave both the German and English version pretty equal play. When that opening chord starts it was "ok which version this time". Funny but at that time we also had a girl exchange student from Germany. I remember her saying that "yes the German title is 99 red ballons" in our Spanish class we were both in.
Nur Getraumt is a nice bop from Nena too.. hope you check it soon brother. 😊
those of us of genx grew up seriously wondering if nuclear war was coming tomorrow the fear was a daily people who came after the wall fell will never truly understand what that was like and why music like this and movie like The Day After or the original Red Dawn mean so much to us
When i was in the army, i often heard the phrase " when the balloon goes up". Which meant nuclear war.
Stan I have the perfect follow up to this: Band: Propaganda Song: Duel
Yes!
Yes you should listen to the English version Live
Hey Stan, I always liked the English version of the song! Remember watching this video on much more music (Canada)!😃👍✌
I never liked the English version; the band was compelled by their label to make it, and changing the lyrics to English changed the meaning of the track.
Besides, this is the version Casey Kasem played for us at the time😊
She has tons of other songs! Check out my favorite Anyplace, anywhere, anytime ❤
The song is 99 red balloons sung in German 99 Lyuftballons
Was surprised that you didn’t say that she makes you want to get your Captain Kirk on, particularly since she mentions “Captain Kirk” in the song!
In the original version, this one in German, it's not red balloons. 99 luftballoons is 99 air balloons. They had to add another syllabus for the English version to work, and so they added the word red.
I posted it when the Chinese spy balloons drifted over,.....
“Nur geträumt” is the only other Nena song I know and this live TV performance should make you want to get your Captain Kirk on! ua-cam.com/video/K-WrzSjcK3I/v-deo.htmlsi=t4jdCk97o1XFcxY7
Try Nena - Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann or the English version „anywhere. Anyhow, anytime“
So i think you gotta try *anyplace, anywhwhere, anytime *together with Kim Wilde (a remake of Nenas own song *irgendwie, irgendwo irgendwann*) or maybe *Leuchtturm*
I was in high school Germany when this song came out. We used to listen to it all the time on the long bus trips to track meets. I knew it was a war protest song. I heard the English version when we moved back to the States. I prefer the German version. The forced translation of the lyrics don't fit the music as well.
Check out "Leuchtturm" by Nena
I like the German versy i heard the English version . but missed the American version
hi, please react to more songs of Nena, like "Wunder geschehn", "In meinem Leben - live" or "Irgendwie Irgendwo Irgendwann" :)
The subtitles on the original video do not correspond with the German - quelle surprise!
Very Good Song.. Big worldwide hit.. English version was also popular on radio and tv. Nena and Kim Wilde - "Anyplace Anywhere Anytime" - ua-cam.com/video/l8_8oeGwfnQ/v-deo.html. Good Beat..
It means "99 Ministers of War, matches and cans of gasoline" in English, not that impressive.
But it's a sick bar in German: "Neunundneunzig Kriegsminister, Streichholz und Benzinkanister".
Hi.. There another German song, about war.. With a strong female voice..check.
,,Null positiv - wo Rauch ist, ist auch Feuer,, ///and enjoy without understanding lyrics. ✌️... War, s so close today here in Europe. ☹️
Tip: look the old songs ... the new after her brake are not so good anymore. I thing she try to much to be mainstream. and it not work.
right wingers hate this song -
I'm an American conservative but I like it. Yes, I know the lyrics and their meaning.