<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <Ul> <Li> file </Li> <Li> help </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> file </Li> <Li> help </Li> </Ul> <P> "99 Luftballons" (German: Neunundneunzig Luftballons, "99 balloons") is an anti-war protest song by the German band Nena from their 1983 self - titled album . An English - language version titled "99 Red Balloons", with lyrics by Kevin McAlea, was also released on the album 99 Luftballons in 1984 after widespread success of the original in Europe and Japan . The English version is not a direct translation of the German original and contains somewhat different lyrics . </P> <P> While at a June 1982 concert by the Rolling Stones in West Berlin, Nena's guitarist Carlo Karges noticed that balloons were being released . As he watched them move toward the horizon, he noticed them shifting and changing shapes, where they looked like strange spacecraft (referred to in the German lyrics as a "UFO"). He thought about what might happen if they floated over the Berlin Wall to the Soviet sector . </P>

When was the song 99 red balloons written