I would like to thank Siobhán Silke, who did a quick translation of the German lyrics into English, and the various people who have sent in corrections. You can also view each of these columns seperately by following the link at the top of each. I thought a side by side comparision would be very interesting to see how the lyrics had to be changed to fit the meter of the song when it was translated into English from German. I'm not sure who wrote the original English lyrics, but they certainly did a good job at capturing the original spirit of the song. I think it's neat both versions work in Captin Kirk, even if they do come in different stanzas.

Verses 3 & 4 are sung in reverse order in the English version, but to better see the comparison in how the verses were translated, I've reversed them here.

German - Direct German Translation - English as Sung - Side by Side Comparision

German	Direct German Translation	English as Sung
Hast Du etwas Zeit fuer mich?	Do you have some time for me	You and I in a little toy shop
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich	Then I'll sing a song for you	buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got
Von 99 Luftballons	About 99 balloons	Set them free at the break of dawn
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont	On their way to the horizon	'Til one by one, they were gone
Denkst Du vielleicht grad' an mich?	Are you perhaps thinking of me?	Back at base, bugs in the software
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich	Then I'll sing a song for you	Flash the message, "Something's out there"
Von 99 Luftballons	About 99 balloons	Floating in the summer sky
Und dass sowas von sowas kommt	And that something (like the war) comes from such a thing (the balloons)	99 red balloons go by.
99 Luftballons	99 balloons	99 red balloons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont	On their way to the horizon	floating in the summer sky
Hielt man fuer UFOs aus dem All	They thought they were UFOs from space	Panic bells, it's red alert
Darum schickte ein General	So a general sent	There's something here from somewhere red
'ne Fliegerstaffel hinterher	A flying squad out there	The war machine springs to life
Alarm zu geben, wenn's so waer	To raise the alarm if it was true	Opens up one eager eye
Dabei war'n da am Horizont	Yet there on the horizon were	Focusing it on the sky
Nur 99 Luftballons	Only 99 balloons	Where 99 red balloons go by.
99 Duesenflieger	99 jet planes	99 Knights of the air
Jeder war ein grosser Krieger	Each one was a great warrior	ride super-high-tech jet fighters
Hielten sich fuer Captain Kirk	Thought that they were Captain Kirk	Everyone's a Superhero
Es gab ein grosses Feuerwerk	There were great fireworks	Everyone's a Captain Kirk
Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft	The neighbors didn't understand anything	With orders to identify
Und fuehlten sich gleich angemacht	And felt equally provoked	To clarify and classify
Dabei schoss man am Horizont	Yet there they shot on the horizon	Scramble in the summer sky
Auf 99 Luftballons	At 99 balloons	As 99 red balloons go by.
99 Kriegsminister	99 war ministers	99 Decision Street
Streichholz und Benzinkanister	Matches and petrol cans	99 ministers meet
Hielten sich fuer schlaue Leute	Thought that they were clever people	To worry, worry, super-scurry
Witterten schon fette Beute	Already caught wind of great spoils [of war]	Call the troops out in a hurry
Riefen: Krieg und wollten Macht	Shouted: War, and wanted power	This is what we've waited for
Mann, wer haette das gedacht	Man, who would have thought	This is it boys, this is war
Dass es einmal soweit kommt	That one day it would come to this	The president is on the line
Wegen 99 Luftballons	Because of 99 balloons	As 99 red balloons go by.
99 Jahre Krieg	99 years of war	99 dreams I have had
Liessen keinen Platz fuer Sieger	Don't leave a place for victors	In every one a red balloon
Kriegsminister gibt's nicht mehr	There are no ministers of war any more	It's all over and I'm standin' pretty
Und auch keine Duesenflieger	And No jet planes either	In this dust that was a city
Heute zieh ich meine Runden	Today I'm doing my rounds	If I could find a souvenier
Seh' die Welt in Truemmern liegen	Seeing the world lying in ruins	Just to prove the world was here...
Hab' 'nen Luftballon gefunden	Found a balloon	And here is a red balloon
Denk' an Dich und lass' ihn fliegen	Think of you and let it fly	I think of you and let it go.

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Thanks to the people who sent in corrections.
Also check out the Nuclear War Songs Of The 80s page.