I always thought the lyrics to “99 Red Balloons” were kinda odd, but something’s always lost in translation. It can’t be helped.
Looking at a straight translation from the original German song “99 Luftballons”, it’s now obvious how loose the translation was. (Even “red balloon” is only used to match the syllable count in “Luftballon”, which just means “balloon”.) Here’s the first two stanzas:
| Direct translation: “99 Luftballons” |
English lyrics: “99 Red Balloons” |
|
Do you have some time for me,
then I’ll sing a song for you
about 99 balloons
on their way to the horizon.
If you’re perhaps thinking about me right now
then I’ll sing a song for you
about 99 balloons
and that something comes from such a thing.
|
You and I in a little toy shop
Buy a bag of balloons with the money we’ve got
Set them free at the break of dawn
Til one by one, they were gone
Back at base bugs in the software
Flash the message, something’s out there
Floating in the summer sky
99 red balloons go by
|
|
99 balloons
on their way to the horizon
People think they’re UFO’s from space
so a general sent up
a fighter squadron after them
To raise the alarm if it was true
but there on the horizon were
only 99 balloons.
|
99 red balloons
Floating in the summer sky
Panic bells it’s red alert
There’s something here from somewhere else
The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky as 99 red balloons go by
|
“But unluckily most Germans here are too smart. They all speak good English and won’t be able to speak German to me.” — Alex Chiu
July 11th, 2007
2 comments
Posted by Donnie
Filed under Entertainment
awww, you stopped before the Captain Kirk comment
Comment by Allen | 11 July 2007
The funny thing is that the Captain Kirk line ended up in different stanzas in the translations.
Comment by Donnie Briggs | 11 July 2007