| "99 Luftballons / 99 Red Balloons" |
|
| Single by Nena |
| from the album 99 red baloons Nena / 99 Luftballons |
| Released |
1983 (Germany)
1984 (North America) |
| Genre |
Pop |
| Length |
3:53 |
| Label |
EMI |
| Writer(s) |
Uwe F. Petersen (music)
Carlo Karges (German lyrics)
Kevin McAlea 99 redballoons (English lyrics) |
| Certification |
Gold (RIAA) |
| Chart positions |
- #1 (United Kingdom)
- #2 (United States)
|
| Nena singles chronology |
"Nur 99 red ballooons geträumt"
(1982) |
"99 Luftballons"
(1983) |
"Leuchtturm"
(1983) |
"99 Luftballons" and 99 red ballloons "99 Red Balloons" are protest songs sung respectively in 99 red balloona German and English by German singer Nena. It reached number-one in West Germany in 1983 and is 99 re balloons one of the most successful pop songs by a German artist in the world. The English 99 red bolloons version topped the UK Singles Chart, while the original German version reached a 99 red ballones peak position of #2 in the 99 red balluns Billboard Hot 100 chart.
|
Contents
- 1 History 99 red bloons of the song
- 2 Cover versions
- 3 Trivia
- 4 Mentions 99 red blouns in the media
- 5 See 99 red bluons Also
- 6 External links
|
History of the song
While at a Rolling Stones 99 red balloons goldfinger concert, Carlos Karges, the guitar player of Nena's band, noticed goldfinger 99 red balloons that balloons were being released. As 99 red balloons nena he watched them move torwards the horizon, he noticed them shifting and changing shapes, where they looked nothing like nena 99 red balloons a mass of balloons but some strange spacecraft. After 99 red balloons mp3 thinking this, he wrote "99 Luftballons".
Both the 99 red balloons lyrics English and German versions of the song tell a story of ninety-nine balloons floating into the listen to 99 red balloons air, triggering an apocalyptic overreaction by the military. The music 99 red balloons german was composed by Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, the keyboardist of Nena's band, while goldfinger - 99 red balloons Karges, wrote the original German lyrics. Kevin McAlea wrote the English version, titled "99 Red Balloons," which has a more 99 red balloons - nena satirical tone than the original.
The song came during a period of escalating rhetoric and strategic maneuvering between 99 red balloons by goldfinger the United States and the Soviet Union. nena - 99 red balloons In particular, its international chart success followed two events in Europe that raised fears of the Cold War becoming who sings 99 red balloons hot. First, in November 1983 the Soviet Union misread NATO's annual Able Archer exercise 99 red balloons 7 seconds as an actual preparation for a 99 red balloons go by nuclear strike and activated its own weapons for a preemptive strike. Although few outside the Soviet Union understood the 99 red balloons in german seriousness of the response, historians now consider 99 red balloons nena mp3 it one of the closest calls with nuclear war and a reflection of the 99 red balloons download war angst of the time. A few weeks gold finger 99 red balloons later, in January 1984, the United States deployed Pershing II missiles in West Germany, prompting protests across nena- 99 red balloons western Europe.
In this context, Nena topped 99 red balloons goldfinger lyrics the UK Singles Chart with "99 Red Balloons" for three weeks, 99 red balloons nina starting in 28 February 1984. Strangely enough, in the United States the German version was more successful, charting download 99 red balloons free at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. On March 26, 1984, it was 99 red balloons - goldfinger certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association afi 99 red balloons of America, for shipment of over 500,000 copies.
Nena never had another hit song 99 red balloons single, and therefore, is considered to be a very succesful one-hit wonder artist in both countries. Channel 4 placed "99 99 red balloons afi Red Baloons" at #2 in their countdown of download nena 99 red balloons the 50 Greatest One Hit Wonders, while gold finger: 99 red balloons VH1 placed it at #10 in their list of the 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders.
Curiously enough, another German language goldfinger 99 red balloons lyrics song topped the American charts on the 1980s; Falco's "Rock Me Amadeus".
Preceded by:
"Relax" by Frankie listen to nena 99 red balloons Goes to Hollywood |
UK number one single
February 26, 1984 |
Succeeded by:
"Hello" by Lionel Richie |
Cover versions
The song nina 99 red balloons has been covered by numerous who sang 99 red balloons bands, most notably by 7 Seconds in English, Siobhan DuVall, NOFX and by 99 red balloons nofx Goldfinger in English with a German verse. goldfinger/ 99 red balloons The German verse in the song is actually just the German version of the 99 red balloons + goldfinger English verse which immediately preceedes it. In essence, an entire verse (a humorous one involving Captain Kirk) is cut out 99 red balloons chords and is 99 red balloons midi sung in neither English nor German. The latter cover was featured in several films, including Eurotrip (2004) and 99 red balloons piano sheet music Not Another Teen Movie (2001) as well as 99 red luft balloons during various competitions in Nickelodeon's television movie "Rocket Power: Race Across gold finger - 99 red balloons New Zealand" (2002). Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine have also goldfinger, 99 red balloons covered the song on their I'd Like a Virgin 2004 7 seconds 99 red balloons album; this version actually contains gibberish lyrics sung in a pseudo-German accent in lieu of German lyrics.
Another popular 99 red balloons free sheet music cover of this song is 99 red balloons instrumental John Forté's Ninety Nine (Flash The Message) on his 1998 Poly Sci album.
Trivia
- "99 Luftballons" was also 99 red balloons remix used in a Telus commercial in goldfinger: 99 red balloons Canada in 2003. This commercial featured piglets being lifted up by red balloons into the air, lyrics to 99 red balloons with the German version of the song playing in words for 99 red balloons the background.
- VH1 Classic, an American cable television station, ran a charity event for 99 red balloons - jerry reed Hurricane Katrina relief in 2006. Viewers who made donations were allowed to choose which music 99 red balloons and nena videos the station would play. One viewer donated $35,000 for the right to program an 99 red balloons german version entire hour and requested continuous play of Nena's "99 Luftballons" and "99 Red Balloons" videos 99 red balloons mid continuously for an entire hour. The station broadcasted the 99 red balloons nena download videos as requested from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. EST on March 26, 2006.
- In a spoof of 99 red balloons real American Idol on an episode of the eighth season 99 red balloons sheet music of MADtv, parodies of Courtney download goldfinger 99 red balloons free Love, Wham!, and Bobby Brown, who are portrayed as washed-up goldfinger 99 red balloons tabs celebrities, had to sing a song that "was from Germany and had a number, a color and nea 99 red balloons something that floats in the title" with nina - 99 red balloons the prize being the privilege of getting a new recording contract to nina - 99 red luft balloons fix their fallen careers.
Mentions in the media
- A cover version is featured in the European release of the 2004 what is 99 red balloons about video game Donkey Konga.
- On the VH1 one-hit wonders special mentioned above, host William Shatner joked that 99 red balloons and windows this was the only song on 99 red balloons auf deutsch the countdown to mention him. He was referencing 99 red balloons blondie the line "Hielten sich für Kaptain Kirk." ("They thought that they were 99 red balloons by nena Captain Kirk.")
- Played in the 2003 French movie La Beuze.
- Played in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
- Sang for 99 red balloons club version a few seconds by 99 red balloons english Drew Barrymore in the 1998 movie The Wedding Singer.
- Played in the pilot episode of NBC's 99 red balloons english version television series My Name is Earl.
- It has been featured in a Saturday Night 99 red balloons go by lyrics afi Live commercial spoof, advertising a smoke detector that plays the hits of the 99 red balloons goldfinger mp3 1980s.
- Played twice in "My Interpretation", the 44th episode of the American sitcom Scrubs. Both 99 red balloons happy hardcore times, JD daydreams that dancing around in a room full of red 99 red balloons lyrics wikipedia balloons while this song is playing could diffuse a tense situation.
- Played in 99 red balloons meaning one of the climactic scenes 99 red balloons nokia ringtones of Boogie Nights.
- Features in the reunion dance scenes of Grosse Pointe Blank.
- Features as the closing theme for the BBC Radio 99 red balloons reel 4 spoof panel game 99 red balloons reel big The 99p Challenge
- Sung by Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in the movie 99 red balloons song lyrics Wedding Crashers as a deleted scene.
- Played on the Australian countdown programme 99 red balloons soundtrack 20 to 1 on 13 February 2006, in the episode "20 to 1: One Hit 99 red balloons techno version Wonders".
- P. Diddy claims this to be one of his favorite songs.
- Briefly quoted in a midget holding 99 red balloons while riding a basset hound the Guster song "Amsterdam"
- Homer sings the German version of the song to get tips afi - 99 red balloons mp3 from German students in The Simpsons episode download 99 red balloons mp3 "The Heartbroke Kid". video
- Listened by the character of Lorelai (Gilmore Girls) when she free myspace layouts 99 red balloons goes into labor.
- Is included in "Weird Al" Yankovic's polka medley "Hooked german 99 red balloons On Polkas", on his album Dare to Be Stupid.
See Also
- Norwegian rocket incident
External links
- German and English Lyrics, commentary on german songs; 99 red balloons hear 99 red balloons the song, plus interview with the song's writer
- A triple side-by-side comparison of the German lyrics, a direct lyrics 99 red balloons german translation, and the English version
- List of bands lyrics for 99 red balloons who have covered this song
- 20 Mishaps That Might Have Started Accidental Nuclear War
- Parody Video found on Youtube
Categories: nena 99 red balloons lyrics 1983 singles | 1984 singles | Anti-war songs | Number-one singles in Germany | Protest songs | Number-one singles in the United Kingdom | New wave songs | Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine songs | RIANZ number-one singles | YouTube
