Nena

As my Berlin marathon training gets underway, my thoughts are going more and more towards Germany, my memories of life there and the many German influences, that will forever have it's mark on the person that I am.

Nena is one of them.

Gabriele Susanne Kerner (born 24 March 1960), better known by her stage name Nena, is a German singer and actress. She rose to international fame in 1983 with the New German Wave song "99 Luftballons". - Wiki

I was 11 y.o. when I watched "99 Luftballons" on Philippine television.  3 years prior my godmother  married my German uncle and I was one of their flower girls in their wedding.

This afternoon I played the clips to two of the our older girls, one born 1999, and the other 2002; Nena's charm and the song's universal appeal still claims the generation of today.

Middle daughter, 9 y.o. sang to the lyrics and liked it, and unlike me, who did not understand German when I first heard it, she understood (a bit) that the message of the song is about a plea for peace.