99 Luftballons: A Modern Musical Icon
“99 Luftballons” is a protest pop-song first released in January 1983, which became a viral hit worldwide. This German piece, sung by Gabriele Kerner (the leading singer of the band “Nena”) meets several vital criteria that define iconicity, and therefore can be considered an icon. In this work, we will classify an icon based on: (a) the level of popularity that the work gains on a global level, (b) the deeper significance of the work itself, and © the enchantment it creates over people coming in contact with it. Before delving deeper into the detail of how “99 Luftballons” meets these iconicity criteria, we will briefly explore the background of this musical piece.
As Erwin Panofsky explains in Studies in Iconology (Panofsky, pg. 3–17), it is important to learn about the context of a piece, such as an artist’s personality and political views, in order to fully understand its meaning. In our case, “99 Luftballons” was written during the Cold War in Germany and the band performing it were based in West Berlin ( “Nena”), which, at the time, was occupied by the American, British, and French sectors ( “What Was The Berlin Wall And How Did It Fall? — The Cold War | IWM”). The members of the band were impacted first-hand by the war, which would have influenced their view on politics and likely led to them producing this iconic protest pop-song.
The primary aspect of becoming iconic is worldwide recognition, as Kemp emphasizes in Christ to Coke (Kemp). At the beginning of his text, he writes “an iconic image is one that has achieved wholly exceptional levels of widespread recognizability ” (Introduction, pg. 3). This is exactly what we observe with the astonishingly rapid spread of “99 Luftballons” around global radio charts. It hit first place among twelve countries within just one week of its release. These countries ranged from neighboring ones to Germany, such as Austria and Switzerland, all the way to the US and Japan ( “99 Luftballons”), demonstrating the impact this piece had on society worldwide. The fact that this piece remained — throughout the entire first year of its release — the second most listened to song in Germany, fifth in the Netherlands, sixth in Switzerland, sixteenth in France and twenty-eighth in the US is remarkable and points at its prolonged impact on the West. This begs the question: what in the piece itself makes it truly iconic? This leads us to the second criterion of iconicity.
The deeper meaning of “99 Luftballons” comes through its lyrics. If translating the German version of this piece — which preceded and outdid the English version made in 1984 (“99 Luftballons”) — the story told is that of a girl and a boy that release ninety-nine red balloons into the air. These balloons are mistaken for UFOs, and a military officer sends pilots to investigate the situation. The pilots, having found nothing more than just balloons, put on a show by firing at the balloons. This worries nations along the borders and results in a nuclear holocaust because of a few harmless balloons. We can interpret the lyrics as a message to both simple citizens and those with political power. It suggests that war and death are not worth causing because of simple miscommunication or foolish pride. The song ends on a philosophical note: “99 years of war left no room for victors”, implying that however long the war is, it leaves no winners. Nevertheless, the children in the story find one last surviving balloon, symbolizing the hopes and dreams of the surviving people. This may be one of the most impactful lines of the entire piece, as it plants a seed of hope in listeners, which is a powerful way in which music can impact us. Thus, the story the lyrics tell us carries a deeper significance than just a pleasant tune. Exploring the nature of this story leads us to the third criterion of iconicity.
The German language, although popular in central Europe at the time of the song’s release, was not widespread in the more Eastern and Western regions of the globe, such as Japan and the US. Interestingly, “99 Luftballons” skyrocketed in popularity just as well in these countries. A possible reason for this is the enchantment brought upon listeners by hearing music in a foreign language. When one does not know the lyrics, it is the timbre of the voice, the instruments, and the mood of the piece that determine whether one likes it or not. Because “99 Luftballons” became viral across many non-germanic countries, its musical character likely pleased a wide audience. For the german-speaking listeners, however, the enchantment is produced by the deeper significance of the story that the lyrics tell. As David Morgan explains in Images at Work (Morgan), stories are enchanting to us through their ability to evoke emotion and connect to a deeper set of beliefs and values we possess, supporting the iconic status of “99 Luftballons”.
Today, thanks to information globalization and easy access to translation resources, the meaning of “99 Luftballons” is well known worldwide. However, to a first-time listener who does not speak German, the meaning may be unknown, yet the light and playful character of the piece make it interesting to many. Thus, Kemp’s idea that an icon “has to a greater or lesser degree transgressed the parameters of its initial making, function, context, and meaning” (pg. 3) holds true in this case as well. Not only is “99 Luftballons” an icon because of the perspective it uses in taking on a grave topic like war, but it also now functions as a protest against modern warfare, such as the Russian/Ukrainian conflict (Birch).
To sum up, the three criteria of being remarkably popular worldwide, carrying a deeper meaning, and enchanting people, are met by the protest pop-song “99 Luftballons” performed by Nena. Therefore we can classify this piece as a major icon, which is not only unique in its appeal to listeners on a global scale but also in its purpose to raise awareness of the causes and effects of war.
Works Cited
Birch, Paul H. “Red Balloons Cover Released in Wake of Ukranian/Russian Conflict.” RAMzine, 26 March 2022, https://ramzine.co.uk/news/red-balloons-cover-released-in-wake-of-ukranian-russian-conflict/. Accessed 29 February 2024.
Kemp, Martin. “Christ to Coke: How Image Becomes Icon.” ProQuest Ebook Central, Oxford University Press, 2011, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/caltech-ebooks/detail.action?docID=796049#. Accessed 29 February 2024.
Morgan, David. Images at Work: The Material Culture of Enchantment. Oxford University Press, 2018. Accessed 29 February 2024.
“Nena.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nena. Accessed 29 February 2024.
“99 Luftballons.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Luftballons. Accessed 29 February 2024.
Panofsky, Erwin. Studies In Iconology: Humanistic Themes In The Art Of The Renaissance. Taylor & Francis, 2018.
“What Was The Berlin Wall And How Did It Fall? — The Cold War | IWM.” Imperial War Museums, https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-was-the-berlin-wall-and-how-did-it-fall. Accessed 29 February 2024.
