Nena - 99 Luftballons | Het verhaal achter het nummer | Top 2000 a gogo

Zangeres Nena vertelt over haar hit '99 Luftballons'.
Een reportage van Top 2000 a gogo uit 2023.

[djboo-lee]

I made a transcription in English for those who speak German nor Dutch. :)

So much fun to be here. I haven’t been to the Netherlands that often, but I’m impressed. Can you understand me ? You all speak German ?

“Do you have some time for me ?
Then I’ll sing a song for you
About 99 balloons
On their way to the horizon
Think about me for a moment
Then I’ll sing a song for you
About 99 balloons
And where they can lead to”

We were all at a Rolling Stones concert in Berlin. At the end of the concert Mick Jagger released a lot of balloons. They flew into the air. The Berlin Wall was still there back then. Then Carlo thought: “They fly over the Wall. Imagine someone takes that the wrong way.” Then he went home and wrote that song. It came to him. It’s a story about a misunderstanding that causes a war.

“99 balloons on their way to the horizon
Were seen as UFO’s from the universe
So a general sent planes to them
To raise the alarm if they were
But on the horizon were only 99 balloons.”

Then our record company said they did not want to release it as a single because it didn’t have a chorus.
They said it was not commercial enough.

“99 battle planes, all war machines
They thought they were Captain Kirk
Then there was a big fireworks
The neighbours didn’t understand it and felt provoked
So they shot at the horizon at 99 balloons”

Then we were called by a Dutch TV show. They asked us to come play the song. We didn’t realize it was going to be on a military training ground. Bombs were exploding around us. That was a very special experience. Explosions all around us. The cool thing was that MTV heard about the song one way or another. They only just existed. They were going to air the music video. And the success became bigger and bigger.

“99 war ministers, matches and petrol cans
They thought they were going to be rich
And have a big loot
They declared war and wanted power.
Man, who would have thought that
It all started with 99 balloons”

Maybe you know KROQ, the famous radio station from LA. The boss of the station was Rodney Bingenheimer, a famous radio DJ. A lot of famous bands came to the station: The Ramones, David Bowie, Blondie. All big names.

And Christiane F. She had written a book and traveled around the world to promote it. And she always took records from Germany with her. When she was with Rodney in the show to tell about the book, she gave our record to him and said: “Listen to it”. He listened to it and thought it was fantastic. He played it six or eight times in his show. Other radio stations did the same and it caused a snow ball effect.

The record company got nervous and said to us: “We've got to make an English version as soon as possible!” It all went so fast. The German version had already sold a million copies. I can’t recall exactly. It was a small miracle anyway.

The emotion that this song causes musically and lyrically arose at that Stones concert. And I believe we now live in an age where mankind is going through a big turning point. And that people are worrying about war and that they don’t look away anymore.

“After 99 years of war
There are no longer any winners
Ant here are no more war ministers
And no more fighter planes”

I believe that this time we’re really learning something because we’re living in a time where we can no longer hide. We must show our true colours so that these things can no longer happen en that there will be peace. That’s what I believe in. It may be naive, I don’t care.That’s my opinion and attitude in life.

(Side note: Christiane F was a young girl that got to addicted to heroin in the late 70's in Berlin and hung out at the Zoo railway station there. She wrote the book “Christiane F, we the kids from the Zoo station” that became very famous. There was also a successful movie made based on the book, including songs by David Bowie).

[pokegerard]

Na 41 jaar weet ik pas wat de tekst inhoud, geeft ineens een nog diepere band met dit mooie nummer dan ik al had..gaaf!

[peterhaagen]

Wow. Een echt vredes lied nooit echt beseft. Wat een aangename en warme stem en vrouw . ❤

[wimvanlaethem]

Danke vielmals, Nena !🎙🎼🎊 Ooo zoveel nostalgie naar onze boeiende '80-er jaren waarin we onze onbezorgde tienerjaren mochten beleven. Onze kamer vol posters met onze idolen. Geen internet, onze favoriete muziek overtapend van onze radio-cassette op onze BASF-cassetjes tot ze grijsgedraaid waren. Idem dito met onze vinyl lp's ... Hier vanuit muziekstad Wenen stuur ik 99 liebe Grüße aus Wien. Vanwege een 54-jarige Belgische nostalgicus "Wim Wien".🎼🎶🇦🇹❣️

[ScyllaWyrm]

Die ondertitels voegen wel wat toe voor mensen die denken dat ze Duits kunnen maar die nooit de songtekst hebben gelezen, zoals ik. Het kwartje valt nu pas.

[nickc]

I was honestly not expecting Nena to be just as charming now as before.😍

[daviddahlmann]

Schon als 9-Jähriger war ich Nena-Fan, und heute sind Ihre "99 Luftballons" friedensrelevanter denn je ☮️
Danke 🙏🏻

[perarap]

Nena du bist einfach wundervoll. Du warst mein erster Star den ich als Kind mit ca. 6 Jahren im TV wahr genommen habe. In der C. Zeit warst du mein Begleiter mit Frieden, Wandern und Licht... Ich habe das Gefühl du bist sehr Bewusst und schon sehr wach. Danke für dein Vertrauen in eine schöne liebevolle friedliche Zukunft. Das Vertrauen habe ich auch mittlerweile. Gestern war ich zum ersten mal in Neu Ulm auf deinem Konzert. Danke, danke, danke für das Licht, welches du in die Welt schickst. ❤❤❤

[Tom_TheCherryBlossomStudio]

Amazing, after all these years! Love the song, the lyrics, and the meaning/message!

[Anson]

Nena looks even better now! wawa wee wa.

[larsaf]

Ich habe die Stones 1982 in Hanover gesehen, im Fußballstadion, von etwa fünf Reihen von der Bûhne entfernt. Dass allerdings die Luftballons im Bühnenshow der Stones die Inspiration für "99 Luftballons" gebildet hatten war mir bis heute nicht bewusst gewesen, bis ich das Interview mit Nena hier hörte.

[DeToraloor]

Prachtig verhaal en in zowel Duits als Engels een prachtige plaat!❤

[Hughenn]

Happy I understand both German and Dutch. Such a great song and fantastic memories from my younger days.

[RogervanValen]

Wij kregen dit nummer in de jaren 80 op Duitse les om te vertalen. Hele mooie tekst en verhaal achter het nummer.

[drizerreal]

I was so much in love with Nena when I was a kid in the Eighties, always danced in the room when this song was played on Dutch radio🥰

[simonemira]

Nena ist die Beste!!!
Danke fürs teilen

[Sternchen-gkvk]

Kalter-Krieg Song....damals von Nena genial umgesetzt egal ob deutsch oder und bleibt Mega-Kult, und denkt an die Worte von Nena, sie hat Recht ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[MarkGelderland]

Ze zingt live niet altijd even zuiver maar het is i.i.g wel echt live, en het is een leuke vrouw, toen en nu.

[josvanzetten]

Begin jaren '80. Ik was als kanonnenvoer gelegerd in Duitsland en was verliefd op Nena. Maar ook op Blondie. En op Nina Hagen. Uiteindelijk een Amsterdamse schone aan de haak geslagen en hebben al ruim 20 jaar een dochter met de naam Nina, wij twijfelden tussen de naam Nena en Nina, mijn vrouw heeft de discussie gewonnen 🙂

[sternenweg]

Great Person, Most authentic Woman in the world. I Love her Shows, she s so beautiful and her Last Album LICHT ist very good.