Friday, March 11, 2005

Buy two, get one free at Barnes & Noble: I made off with Aldous Huxley's "Crome Yellow," Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World" and Jules Verne's moon novel.

I've been making a point to listen to the radio lately. There are two decent local stations; between the two of them, I can usually find something listenable. I recently discovered a beautiful song called "99 Red Balloons" by a German (?) band called Nena; it's been around since the early 80s, but I'm just now hearing it. It's about a bunch of macho warhawks launching an unprovoked nuclear war. The timing seems impeccable.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I didn't hear the english version of the song until some time after i'd gotten used to the original german version, and to be honest i prefer the version i don't understand...

Anonymous said...

Neun und neunzig Luft Balloons. Yeah, I remember that one, but I'm closer to Germany. A US acquaintance of mine also hadn't heard the song until recent years, though he thought it was new and had no idea how old it was until I told him.

Mac said...

Actually, "99 Red Balloons" *did* sound vaguely familiar; I'm sure I had heard it before. But apparently I'd never actually listened, which of course is a whole other matter entirely.

I mentioned the song to someone who grew up in Ireland and she prefers the German version as well. I have to find this!

Anonymous said...

Hah, not really the ideal time to be discovering music new to you, the RIAA now slaughters whole populations who knew a guy that even knew a guy. Yes, careful which songs you're interested in, and be sure to bribe everyone that knew you bought the CD too. Music - Serious business...