99 Luftballons

Though the song is very upbeat, the lyrics are less light-hearted. The song starts with Nena breaking the fourth wall by asking the listener if they have time to spare to listen to the song, saying that it is about 99 balloons. She then says about how the balloons float up above the horizon; she also says, "Und, dass sowas von sowas kommt," meaning "that something comes from something," here I believe she is talking about the butterfly effect, which goes into play later in the song. Now the actual song begins, Nena talks about the balloons going up into the horizon and being mistaken as UFOs by West German radars, leading to a general sending a squadron to shoot down the "UFOs," only to find out that what they were shooting down were only balloons. She then sings about how 99 fighter jets fly over to shoot down the balloons, thinking that they are heroic warriors "like Captain Kirk" they put on a big show, shooting down the balloons, and the neighbours noticed (East Germany) and saw this as an excuse to declare war. Then 99 War Ministers, who thought they were all very bright, declared war because they wanted power, Nena then states that who would have thought that all of this would happen because of balloons. She then sings about how this led to 99 years of war, destroying everything; there are no more fighter jets or war ministers, Germany is left in ruins. The song highlights the growing fear of nuclear war that was common in Europe at the time. The story told in the lyrics is about the stupidity and paranoia of people during the Cold War, which could relate to any scenario in the life we live now where every day we are trying to defuse another crisis.

The instruments used in the song include Keyboard, Electric Guitar and a Drumset. This gives off a very new wave pop vibe that was common in Germany by the name of Neue Deutsche Welle in the 1980s. The song sounds very cheerful to a non-German speaker, which could not be farther from the truth. I do not believe this was intentional due to the way the song was created. Carlo Karges, the band's guitarist, wrote the lyrics, which were based on him viewing balloons being released at the June 1982 Rolling Stones concert, where he wondered what would happen if the balloons drifted into the Soviet-controlled section of Berlin. He also said that a Las Vegas news article about a group of High School students releasing 99 balloons into the sky to create the illusion of a UFO (which reflects in the lyrics). Then Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, who played the keyboard for the band, composed the music for the song.

In the video, the band is performing in the barren remains of Germany. As the song continues, balloons are shown lying around the trenches and barbed wire. As the instrumental section starts, different coloured smoke appears around the band, specifically red and blue, I believe this may reference the conflict between East and West Germany, with the red meaning the Soviet Union and the rest of the Iron curtain and Blue meaning France, Britain, USA and the rest of Europe. Later on, during the 4th verse, explosions happen in the background, and balloons tied around the band start to get shot down; this reflects the third and fourth verses' meaning. At the end of this clip, the band begins to abandon the set and leave, this was not intended and was because the band believed that the explosions were getting out of control. It then switches to just Nena, whose actual name is Gabrielle Susanne Kerner, in a forest singing the final verse without the rest of the band. The only people in the music video is the band consisting of, Nena (Vocals), Carlo Karges (Electric Guitar), Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen (Keyboard and Synth), Rolf Brendel (Drum Set). The video likely appeals to late teens and young adults, considering that it was intended to air on the Dutch music programme, TopPop. This is likely because the big explosions and the leather jackets and smoke would come off as very, for lack of a better word, cool to the typical 1980s teen or young adult. The video's content directly reflects the story of the lyrics, explosions and all, watching the music video would likely confuse a non-German speaker as to why this cheery songs music video has explosions and balloons being shot.

The music video was filmed at Harskamp Military Base in the Netherlands on an early 1983 winter morning, where the Dutch Army provided the explosions.