99 Red Balloons
...Something’s out there.” Here the English and German versions diverge. The English version goes on to describe the reaction of the military commanders to this unknown threat. This stanza gives reason for the extreme reaction of both sides to such a benign act. The war machine is referred to as “springing to life” and eager. In the third stanza an unidentified commander states, “This is what we've waited for. This is it boys, this is war.” The nation’s military is like a wound spring, which the slightest touch can set off. The radar blips have not yet been identified and already the president is on the phone, war ministers are in meeting, and troops are being called out. This type of rapid, overwhelming response is the hallmark of Cold War era international tensions. However, a rapid response to an unknown threat I not necessarily a harmful policy, but the actions taken by the nations in the song go beyond mere caution. In both the English and German versions, jet fighters are scrambled to identify the unknown objects. The fighter pilots are likened to great warriors, super heroes and even Captain Kirk from the popular science fiction series Star Trek. The pilots are ready for anything, but when they reach the location of the balloons and do not find what they had expected, namely enemy aircraft, they do something unexpected. Exactly what happens is somewhat nebulous because of the idiomatic nature of the German lyrics in this verse, but for some reason the fighters fire upon a neighboring country. A direct translation says their neighbors “immediately felt turned on,” which in this context means to be lit on fire. But why did they fire on an apparently innocent country instead of simply standing down and returning to base? The fourth stanza lends some insight into this matter. The forth stanza is about ninety-nine power hungry war ministers. According to the German version, the ministers “Shouted: War and wanted power,” and “Already smelled greasy loot.” The military commanders saw an opportunity to conquer a neighboring power and took it. It is wholly possible that the war ministers had no desire to check if the unidentified contacts were real or not; that was only an excuse to get the war machine rolling and an alibi to attack their neighbors. But la...