41: Everyone's a Super Hero; Everyone's a Captain Kirk

41. "99 Red Balloons" by Nena {#2; 12/83} [Video: 99 Red Balloons.]

Yes, I like the German version of this song, too. But, it's the English version I'm ranking here. Call me crazy, but when given the choice between understanding and not understanding the lyrics, I'm going to go with understanding almost every time. 

Sometimes, when making a HondoJoe Top 200 entry, I struggle to find lyrics I like enough to put as the title. No such problem with this song. I could have chosen any of the following as the title for this post and been perfectly satisfied:

"You and I in a Little Toy Shop"

"Floating In the Summer Sky"

"The War Machine Springs to Life"

"Opens Up One Eager Eye"

"Worry, Worry, Super-Scurry"

"Call the Troops Out In a Hurry"

"This Is What We've Waited For"

"This Is It, Boys, This Is War"

"The President Is On the Line"

"Super High-Tech Jet Fighters"

"Orders to Identify, Clarify and Classify"

"It's All Over and I'm Standing Pretty"

"If I Could Find a Souvenir"

"I Think of You and Let It Go"

That's a lot of possible great titles! I finally chose "Everyone's a Super Hero, Everyone's a Captain Kirk" because I am a comic book/Star Trek nerd. 

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I like women. I do. I really, really do. But, you wouldn't know it from the HondoJoe Top 200!  There are only four songs in the entire Top 200 that have a woman as the main singer. They are:

#195: "Buddha's Delight" by Haley Bennett

#114: "Walking On Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves

#70: "Heart and Soul" by T'Pau

and

#41: "99 Red Balloons" by Nena.

That's it. That's all. 

I love women. I really do. I love songs by Abba, Cheryl Crow, Pat Benetar, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Sinead O'Connor, Alicia Keys, Quarterflash, Alanis Morrisette, The Bangles, the Go-Go's, Belinda Carlysle, Belly, the Cranberries, Bonnie Tyler, the Carpenters, Charlene, Enya, Cyndi Lauper, Laura Brannigan, Heart, Air Supply, Bananarama, and the cast of Frozen.

Of course, right now that come's across about like the racist who says, "I've got lots of black friends."

I really don't know why the Top 200 is so skewed towards men. It just is. I apologize.

COMING UP NEXT: American Top 40!