Wind of Change (Scorpions song) - 15 October 2019

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Wind of Change (Scorpions song)

"Wind of Change" is a power ballad by the German rock band Scorpions, recorded for their eleventh studio album, Crazy World (1990). The song was composed and written by the band's lead singer Klaus Meine and produced by Keith Olsen and the band. It was released as the album's third single in January 1991 and became a worldwide hit, just after the failed coup that would eventually lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The song topped the charts in Germany and across Europe and peaked at number four in the United States on August 31, 1991 and 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")^[2] ^[3] ^[4] and a Spanish version called "Vientos de Cambio".

With estimated sales of 14 million copies sold worldwide, "Wind of Change" is one of the best-selling singles of all time.^[5] 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.^[6] As of October 2019, the video for "Wind of Change" has been viewed more than 719 million times on YouTube.

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Background and writing

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The lyrics celebrate glasnost in the Soviet Union, the end of the Cold War,

and speaks 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.^[7]

The Scorpions were inspired to write the song after performing at the Moscow Music Peace Festival in August 1989,^[7]

and the opening lines refer to the city'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 also contains a reference to the balalaika, which is a Russian stringed instrument somewhat like a guitar.

The balalaika is mentioned in the following lines:

Let your balalaika sing
What my guitar wants to say

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Composition

"Wind of Change" opens with a clean guitar intro played by Matthias Jabs, which is played alongside Klaus Meine's flat whistle. The song's guitar solo is played by Rudolf Schenker.^{[citation needed]}

Legacy

In 2005, viewers of the German television network ZDF chose this song as the song of the century.^[7] "Wind of Change" is featured in films In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2007), Gentlemen Broncos (2009), The Interview (2014) and the video game SingStar Rocks! (2006). Most recently the song can be heard in the opening scene of the action comedy film The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018) starring Mila Kunis, Kate McKinnon and Justin Theroux. The song is also featured in television shows Melrose Place, Chuck and Car Share.