You and I in a little toy shop 
Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got 
Set them free at the break of dawn 
Til one by one they were gone 
Back at base, bugs in the software 
Flash the message, something's out there 
Floating in the summer sky 
Ninety-nine red balloons go by 

Ninety-nine red balloons 
Floating in the summer sky 
Panic bells, it's red alert 
There's something here from somewhere else 
The war machine springs to life 
Opens up one eager eye 
Focusing it on the sky 
As ninety-nine red balloons go by 

Ninety-nine decisions treat 
Ninety-nine ministers meet 
To worry, worry, super scurry 
Call out the troops now in a hurry 
This is what we've waited for 
This is it, boys, this is war 
The President is on the line 
As ninety-nine red balloons go by 

Neunundneunzig Kriegsminister 
Streichholz und Benzinkanister 
Hielten sich für schlaue Leute 
Witterten schon fette Beute 
Riefen: Krieg und wollten Macht 
Mann, wer hätte das gedacht? 
Daß es einmal so weit kommt 
Wegen neunundneunzig Luftballons 
Neunundneunzig Luftballons 

Ninety-nine dreams I have had 
And every one a red balloon 
It's all over, and I'm standing pretty 
In the dust that was a city 
I could find a souvenir 
Just to prove the world was here 
Here it is, a red balloon 
I think of you and let it go