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About This Track
“99 Luftballons” is a Cold War-era protest song by the German singer Nena. Originally sung in German, it was later re-recorded in English as “99 Red Balloons”.
“99 Luftballons” reached #1 in West Germany in 1983. In 1984, the original German version also peaked at #2 on the American Billboard Hot 100 chart and the English-language version topped the UK Singles Chart. The German version topped the Australian charts for five weeks and the New Zealand charts for one week.
When it made the charts in the United States, most US radio DJs incorrectly assumed that “99 Luftballons” translated to English as “99 Red Balloons” and spoke the number 99 in English, saying “Ninety-nine Luftballoons.”
The translation of the title is sometimes given as “Ninety-Nine Air Balloons”, however “Ninety-Nine Balloons” is also correct. A Luftballon is a colourful toy balloon, rather than a balloon for transport or research. The name is derived from Luft, German for air, but the meaning of Luft does not qualify the type of balloon. The title “99 Red Balloons” almost scans correctly with the syllables falling in the right places within the rhythm of the first lines of lyrics, with “red” replacing “Luft”. The only difference is the missing counterpart to the German syllable “und” in “Neunundneunzig” (literally “nine and ninety”).
“99 Luftballons” reached #1 in West Germany in 1983. In 1984, the original German version also peaked at #2 on the American Billboard Hot 100 chart and the English-language version topped the UK Singles Chart. The German version topped the Australian charts for five weeks and the New Zealand charts for one week.
When it made the charts in the United States, most US radio DJs incorrectly assumed that “99 Luftballons” translated to English as “99 Red Balloons” and spoke the number 99 in English, saying “Ninety-nine Luftballoons.”
The translation of the title is sometimes given as “Ninety-Nine Air Balloons”, however “Ninety-Nine Balloons” is also correct. A Luftballon is a colourful toy balloon, rather than a balloon for transport or research. The name is derived from Luft, German for air, but the meaning of Luft does not qualify the type of balloon. The title “99 Red Balloons” almost scans correctly with the syllables falling in the right places within the rhythm of the first lines of lyrics, with “red” replacing “Luft”. The only difference is the missing counterpart to the German syllable “und” in “Neunundneunzig” (literally “nine and ninety”).
Send ‘99 Luftballons’ Ringtone to Cell Similar Music
Play Nena RadioWith: Rosenstolz, Christina Stürmer, Ich + Ich, Nena & Kim Wilde and more…
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Albums featuring this track
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NENA
Nena
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DEFINITIVE COLLECTION
Nena Buy- Download Album
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- 7digital $9.99
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- Amazon $11.13
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Einmal ist keinmal
Nena Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $16.99
- 7digital $16.99
- iTunes $16.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $7.46
- eBay Search
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60 Hits - 60 Jahre Deutschland
Various Buy- Download Album
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Shouts
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G0DSTAR wrote:
Her German versions are much better than her English versions, but still, I pretty much love her irregardless.
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Ectopants wrote:
I want to learn German if just for this song.
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BeeGeeBounce wrote:
FIRST EVER DUBSTEP SONG! :D
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romanza28 wrote:
Заебиииииись!!!! The Best!!
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BlastbeatsLOL wrote:
German version is so much better.
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Ambryer wrote:
how nice of her to organize the chaos in Vice City:)
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hexe63 wrote:
♥Neeeeenaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ♥
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retrowens wrote:
It's playing the original song (English version) on mine! I have a red heart beside this song, cause I love it!
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lukasz_pulawski wrote:
composed by Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen
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FerMJ wrote:
i luv DAT funky BASS [3] Super!
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thenoisepolice wrote:
Much better auf Deutsch!
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davidbowiegirl wrote:
i luv DAT funky BASS [2] It always makes me dance a silly dance :D
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davidbowiegirl wrote:
Great song <3
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starfloka wrote:
great, original is back in place. thanks Lastfm!
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crocy2 wrote:
ja hab ich...
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starfloka wrote:
such a crappy mix
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starfloka wrote:
I prefer it in deutch and the original off course... :-/
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rosalila wrote:
lol I wasnt expecting this version, different! :p
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toastissocks wrote:
@PhatBasta if you hate Nena so much then why would you listen to the song and comment on it? and even if you didn't like the song you couldn't have just said you disliked it instead of posting a hurtful comment.
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HumbleUnicorn wrote:
=D
Track Stats
909,815 Scrobbles
215,029 Listeners
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Recent Activity
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alanguilancacal added 99 Luftballons to their Loved Tracks. yesterday evening
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klinkenhofen added 99 Luftballons to klinkenhofen’s library. yesterday evening
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io1002 added 99 Luftballons to their Loved Tracks. yesterday afternoon
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meganleanne added 99 Luftballons to meganleanne’s library. yesterday morning
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theMarix, Fro_Bro, zenestr1661 and 3 other people loved Nena – 99 Luftballons. yesterday morning
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a48days added 99 Luftballons to a48days’s library. Thursday evening
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ChuckAppolus, floydianstrip, aukolloid and 1 other person loved Nena – 99 Luftballons. Thursday evening
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alb-spezial added 99 Luftballons to alb-spezial’s library. Thursday morning
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alb-spezial added 99 Luftballons to the playlist. Thursday morning
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lmadden102, superJ1975, link697 and 12 other people loved Nena – 99 Luftballons. Wednesday evening
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