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, |
You and I in a little toy shop |
99 balloons |
99 red balloons |
“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
awww, you stopped before the Captain Kirk comment
The funny thing is that the Captain Kirk line ended up in different stanzas in the translations.