"Wind of Change" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Scorpions | ||||
from the album Crazy World | ||||
B-side | "Restless Nights" | |||
Released | 21 January 1991 [1] | |||
Studio |
| |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length |
| |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Klaus Meine | |||
Producer(s) |
| |||
Scorpions singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Wind of Change" on YouTube |
"Wind of Change" is a song by German rock band Scorpions, recorded for their eleventh studio album Crazy World (1990). A power ballad, [2] it was composed and written by the band's lead singer, Klaus Meine, and produced by Keith Olsen and the band. The lyrics were composed by Meine following the band's visit to the Soviet Union at the height of perestroika, when the enmity between the communist and capitalist blocs subsided concurrently with the promulgation of large-scale socioeconomic reforms in the Soviet Union.
"Wind of Change" was released as the album's third single on 21 January 1991 and became a worldwide hit, just after the failed coup that would eventually lead to the end of the Soviet Union. The song topped the charts in Germany and across Europe and peaked at number four in the United States and at number two in the United Kingdom. It later appeared on the band's 1995 live album Live Bites , their 2000 album with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Moment of Glory , and on their 2001 "unplugged" album Acoustica . The band also recorded a Russian-language version of the song, under the title "Ветер перемен" ("Veter Peremen") [3] and a Spanish version called "Viento de Cambio”.
With estimated sales of 14 million copies sold worldwide, "Wind of Change" is one of the best-selling singles of all time. [4] It holds the record for the best-selling single by a German artist. The band presented a gold record and $70,000 of royalties from the single to Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991, with Soviet news sources claiming the money would be allocated to children's hospitals. [5]
Klaus Meine said in an interview that the time 1988/1989 in the Soviet Union was characterized by the mood that the Cold War was coming to an end, the music was the unifying factor for the people. [6] The memories of this time are also transported in the music video for the song. [7] Meine was inspired by his participation in the Moscow Music Peace Festival on 13 August 1989, at Lenin Stadium, where the Scorpions performed in front of about 300,000 fans: [2] [8]
Die Idee dazu ist mir in der U.d.S.S.R. gekommen, als ich in einer Sommernacht im Gorki Park Center saß und auf die Moskwa geblickt habe. Das Lied ist meine persönliche Aufarbeitung dessen, was in den letzten Jahren in der Welt passiert ist.
The idea came to me in the U.S.S.R. when I was sitting in the Gorky Park Center one summer night, looking at the Moskva River. The song is my personal reappraisal of what has happened in the world in recent years.
— Klaus Meine, Friede, Freude, Hasch und Perestroika, in: Rocks. Das Magazin für Classic Rock, Heft 01.2014, S. 88
Meine referred to the 'SNC' cultural center, opened by Stas Namin inside Moscow's Gorky Park without any official permission, where Russian and international musicians as well as progressive poets, artists and designers met in a free, innovative atmosphere. [9] The lyrics celebrate glasnost in the Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War, and speak of hope at a time when tense conditions had arisen due to the fall of Communist-run governments among Eastern Bloc nations beginning in 1989. [2] The opening lines refer to the city of Moscow's landmarks:
I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
The Moskva is the name of the river that runs through Moscow (both the city and the river are named identically in Russian), and Gorky Park is an urban park in Moscow named after the writer Maxim Gorky. The song further mentions the balalaika, the signature Russian stringed instrument, as a counterpart to the guitar, suggesting harmony of different cultures. The balalaika is mentioned in the following lines:
Let your balalaika sing
What my guitar wants to say
Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker are owners of the trade mark Wind of Change. [10]
"Wind of Change" opens with a clean guitar introduction played by Matthias Jabs, which is played alongside Klaus Meine's flat whistle. [11] The song's guitar solo is played by Rudolf Schenker.[ citation needed ]
The song is the subject of the Pineapple Street Studios podcast Wind of Change, released 11 May 2020, which raises questions regarding the song's origin. [12] [13] [14] Patrick Radden Keefe, a staff writer at the New Yorker and host of the podcast, investigates the allegation that the song was written by or connected to the Central Intelligence Agency, citing a rumor originating allegedly from inside the agency. In a Sirius XM interview with Eddie Trunk on 13 May 2020, Meine stated "It's a fascinating idea, and it's an entertaining idea, but it's not true at all". [15] [16]
In December 2020, it was reported that a further investigation of the song's origins based on the claims from the podcast would be adapted into a series for Hulu directed by Alex Karpovsky. [17]
The song became associated with the Revolutions of 1989 and the Fall of the Berlin Wall also in 1989 and was performed by the Scorpions at the Brandenburg Gate on 9 November 1999, during the 10th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. [18] [19] In 2005, viewers of the German television network ZDF chose this song as the song of the century. [2] "Wind of Change" is featured in the films In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2007), Gentlemen Broncos (2009), The Interview (2014), Love Island (2014) and I.S.S. (film) (2024), and the video game SingStar Rocks! (2006). The song can be heard in the opening scene of the action comedy film The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018). The song is also featured in television shows Melrose Place , Chuck , and Car Share and Nutri Ventures parody version. [20]
As of 2022, the Scorpions still perform the song live but with lyrical changes in light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The opening lines are changed to "Now listen to my heart / It says Ukrainia, waiting for the wind to change." Meine stated, "It's not the time with this terrible war in Ukraine raging on, it's not the time to romanticize Russia." [21]
In February 2023, the official music video hit one billion views on YouTube. [22]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, they collaborated with Japanese rock star Yoshiki to perform "Wind of Change" for the documentary film Yoshiki: Under the Sky. [23] This was the first time the band came together to perform the Ukraine version of the song. [24] The performance was later released as a music video on YouTube. [25]
As of 2024, the Scorpions have changed the opening lyrics again to adopt a more neutral tone, displaying these on the video screens at gigs: "Now listen to my heart, it still believes in love, waiting for the wind to change. A dark and lonely night, our dreams will never die, waiting for the wind to change." [26]
European 7-inch single and Japanese mini-CD single [27] [28]
European maxi-CD single [29]
| UK CD single [30]
US and Canadian 7-inch single [31]
|
Scorpions
Additional personnel
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [63] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Austria (IFPI Austria) [64] | Platinum | 50,000* |
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [65] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [66] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
France (SNEP) [67] | Gold | 400,000* |
Germany (BVMI) [68] | Platinum | 500,000^ |
Italy (FIMI) [69] sales since 2009 | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
Russia (NFPF) [70] Ringtone | Gold | 100,000* |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [71] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [72] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [73] | Gold | 500,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Europe | 21 January 1991 | 7-inch vinyl | Mercury | [1] |
United Kingdom | 20 May 1991 |
| Vertigo | [74] |
24 June 1991 | Cassette | [75] | ||
United Kingdom (re-release) | 16 September 1991 |
| [76] | |
Japan | 25 October 1991 | Mini-CD | Mercury | [77] |
Scorpions are a German hard rock band formed in Hanover in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker. The longest-existing, 1978–1992, and most successful line-up of the band included Schenker, Klaus Meine (vocals), Matthias Jabs, Francis Buchholz (bass), and Herman Rarebell (drums). The band's only continuous member has been Schenker, although Meine has been with the band continuously since their first album Lonesome Crow (1972). Jabs has been a consistent member since 1978, while bassist Paweł Mąciwoda and drummer Mikkey Dee have been in the band since 2003 and 2016, respectively.
"Wicked Game" is a song by American rock musician Chris Isaak, released from his third album, Heart Shaped World (1989). Released as a single in July 1989, it became a sleeper hit after being featured in the 1990 David Lynch film Wild at Heart, starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern. Lee Chesnut, an Atlanta radio station music director who loved David Lynch films, began playing the song, and it quickly became an American top-10 hit in March 1991, reaching number six on the Billboard Hot 100. Internationally, the single became a number-one hit in Belgium and reached the top 10 in several other nations.
"Caribbean Blue" is a song by Irish musician Enya, included as the second track on her third studio album, Shepherd Moons (1991). It follows a waltz time signature, and mentions the Anemoi : Boreas, Afer Ventus (Africus), Eurus, and Zephyrus. The song was released as the lead single from the album on 7 October 1991 by WEA.
Animal Magnetism is the seventh studio album by German rock band Scorpions, released in 1980. The RIAA certified the record as Gold on 8 March 1984, and Platinum on 28 October 1991.
Crazy World is the eleventh studio album by the German hard rock band Scorpions, released on 6 November 1990. The album peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 chart for albums in 1991. That same year, the song "Wind of Change" reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "Send Me an Angel" reached No. 44 on the same chart. It also has the only Scorpions track to credit bassist Francis Buchholz as a writer, "Kicks After Six". This album was the band's first album in a decade and a half to not be produced by Dieter Dierks.
Pure Instinct is the thirteenth studio album by the German hard rock band Scorpions, released in 1996. Reviewers criticized the album for having too many ballads and not enough hard rock or even rock.
Acoustica is an unplugged live album by German hard rock band Scorpions. It was released in 2001 on East West Records.
"Big City Life" is a song by English electronic music duo Mattafix. With a chorus sung in Jamaican Patois, "Big City Life" was released in August 2005 as the second single from Mattafix's debut album, Signs of a Struggle (2005). The single topped the charts in Austria, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and Switzerland, and it peaked at number 15 in the duo's native United Kingdom. The song's music video was directed by Scott Franklin.
"Rock You Like a Hurricane" is a song by the German hard rock band Scorpions, considered their signature song. It was released as the lead single from their ninth studio album, Love at First Sting (1984). It was written by Klaus Meine, Herman Rarebell, Rudolf Schenker and arranged/produced by Dieter Dierks. The lyrics of "Rock You Like a Hurricane" also reference the title of the album on which it originally appeared – Love at First Sting.
"Sacrifice" is a song by British musician Elton John, written by John and Bernie Taupin, from John's 22nd studio album, Sleeping with the Past (1989). It was first released in October 1989 as the second single from the album. It achieved success in 1990, particularly in France and the United Kingdom, becoming John's first solo chart-topper in both nations. The song describes how hard it is to stay faithful and devoted in a marriage, challenging the mantra that a successful union requires sacrifice. Due to the song's success, John has played this song in various locations in the years since it was released.
"No One Like You" is a 1982 song by German rock band Scorpions. It was written by band members Rudolf Schenker (guitar) and Klaus Meine (vocals) and released as the lead single from the band's eighth studio album Blackout (1982). It was produced by Dieter Dierks and was recorded at Dierks Studios.
"Tell Me Why" is a song produced by Swedish DJs Steve Angello and Axwell under the name "Supermode". The song interpolates two Bronski Beat songs from their album The Age of Consent. The music is sampled from the song "Smalltown Boy", and the lyrics are taken from the song "Why?". The vocals are reconstructed and performed by Hal Ritson. It was used for a Sofology advert in December 2015.
"No Matter What" is a song from the 1996 musical Whistle Down the Wind that was popularised by Irish boyband Boyzone in 1998 when they recorded it to tie in with the show's first UK production. The song was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman, while Lloyd Webber, Steinman and Nigel Wright produced the track, with additional production by Franglen & Lupino. The song was also featured on the US edition of the soundtrack to the 1999 film Notting Hill, and was released to American radio on 10 May 1999.
"ResuRection" is a song by Russian trance music group PPK. It was released in November 2001 as the lead single from their debut album, Reload. The melody is based on the original melody «Поход» ("Crusade") written by Eduard Artemyev for the 1979 Soviet movie Siberiade.
"Send Me an Angel" is a song by the German rock band Scorpions, recorded for their 11th studio album, Crazy World (1990). The song was composed by Rudolf Schenker, written by Klaus Meine, and produced by Keith Olsen and the band. It was released as the album's fourth and final single in September 1991. Along with "Wind of Change", the song became the album's signature track, reaching number 44 on Billboard Hot 100 Chart on 25 January 1992, number 8 on the Mainstream Rock Chart on 19 October 1991, and high chart positions in many European countries.
"Still Loving You" is a power ballad by the German hard rock band Scorpions. It was released in June 1984 as the second single from their ninth studio album, Love at First Sting (1984). The song reached number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was most successful in Europe, reaching the top 5 in several countries.
"It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" is a song written, produced, and performed by American musician Lenny Kravitz for his second studio album, Mama Said (1991). Released as the album's second single in June 1991 by Virgin, the song is a mid-tempo ballad musically inspired by Motown, Philly soul, and Earth, Wind & Fire. The horn line at the end is performed by the Phenix Horns from Earth, Wind & Fire. "That song just came out one day, and I knew it had a classic vibe. And I still love that song very much today," Kravitz said in an interview for VivaMusic.com in 2000. The line is based on a Yogiism, or quotation from Yogi Berra: "It ain't over 'til it's over."
Humanity: Hour I is the sixteenth studio album by German hard rock band Scorpions, which was released in Europe on 14 May 2007 and in the United States and Canada on 28 August 2007. Humanity: Hour 1 is a concept album based on a loose storyline by Desmond Child and futurist Liam Carl, which predicts a world torn apart by a civil war between humans and robots. This apocalyptic nightmare serves as a warning shot to all humanity, whose only hope of survival is to reclaim our humanity.
Return to Forever is the eighteenth studio album by German rock band Scorpions. It was released in Europe on 20 February 2015. The album marks the final release of the band to feature the Unbreakable-era lineup with longtime drummer James Kottak leaving the band in September 2016, being replaced by former Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee.
"Rocket Man(I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin and performed by John. It was originally released on 17 April 1972 in the US, as the lead single to John's album Honky Château. The song first charted in the UK on 22 April, rising to No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 6 in the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming a major hit single for John.
Von Jana-Sophie Brasseler 02.10.09
Eddie Trunk interviews Klaus Meine from The Scorpions, Klaus talks about if the CIA wrote Winds of Change
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)