30 Day Song Challenge - Week 3

Welcome to Week Three of the 30 Day Song Challenge! This week's topic is "Your Favorite Cover Song."

Missed the earlier posts? It's not too late to join in! Come catch up on week one and week two.

I knew what song I was going to use for this topic since day one. Don't get me wrong, I have a long list of cover songs that I love to listen to, including The Mighty Mighty Bosstones version of "Enter Sandman" and the Dead Kennedy's "I Fought the Law," but most of the cover songs that I enjoy are still just musical novelties. Except for one. Goldfinger's cover of 99 Luftballons has a permanent spot on my everyday playlist. I love Nena's original German version - it tells a story of a bunch of balloons being mistaken for UFOs and setting off total global destruction. The English version keeps the same story, but the balloons are mistaken for incoming attack crafts from another country. The end result is the same - the complete destruction of the planet. There's something about this story that just seems a little bit too possible, especially in post-9/11 America when we were at threat level orange for decades - the fear and paranoia were almost tangible for a while there.

Anyway, now that I've gone off on a tangent, I almost prefer the cover song to the original. It's catchy, it's Goldfinger, and it's got a political message, which I believe is something that's completely lacking in today's popular music. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.



Thanks for playing! The theme for next week is A Song that Makes you Happy.