Position Paper on Thinking about Music, and Social Change
Wind of Change
I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night
Soldiers passing by
Listening to the wind of change
The world is closing in
Did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers
The future's in the air
I can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of change
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
in the wind of change
Walking down the street
Distant memories
Are buried in the past forever
I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams
With you and me
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
in the wind of change
The wind of change
Blows straight into the face of time
Like a stormwind that will ring the freedom bell
For peace of mind
Let your balalaika sing
What my guitar wants to say
‘Wind of Change’ (Scorpions) is an iconic song of the eighties that is popularly associated with the breakup of the Soviet Union and the coming down of the Berlin Wall. Three months before the Berlin Wall fell, some of the biggest rock bands in the world, escorted by Soviet soldiers and KGB agents, took a boat ride down Moskva River. It was August 1989, and the bands had been invited to play to more than a 10,000 rock fans at the Moscow Peace festival, a concert put together by the manager of the Scorpions, Doc McGhee, and Stas Namin of Russia, whose uncle was the inventor of the Soviet fighter jet, the MIG. In many ways, the Moscow Peace Festival was a harbinger of times to come and was broadcast internationally as part of the Soviet Premier, Mikhail Gorbachev’s ‘Perestroika’ program to open up the Soviet Union to the rest of the world.
As the Scorpions cruised down the Moskva River, their lead singer, Klaus Meine, had a moment of epiphany and inspiration. In an interview to Al Jazeera, Meine recounts how, going down the river, he felt that ‘there was the whole world in the boat, all talking the same language of music’ (Wroe). Though initially invited to perform at Moscow, the authorities feared that western bands playing in the heart of the Soviet Union would trigger riots, and hence the Festival was shifted to Leningrad. When the Scorpions played in the Lenin Stadium, they were performing a veritable music détente, being only the second western band to perform in the Soviet Union (Wroe). Meine, during the concert, announced, “Our parents came with tanks. We are coming with guitars. We are on a mission to make up for the past” (Wroe). There was also the strong undercurrent about being in the Soviet Union, one of the countries that had played a major role in splitting up Germany, the country of birth of the members of the Scorpions (Bienstock). When the Scorpions performed the song, ‘Blackout’, at the Music Festival, all the Red Army soldiers guarding the stage turned around and threw their caps in the air. The members of Scorpions felt that the world was literally changing in front of their eyes These feelings inspired Meine to create ‘Wind of Change’. In their second night of the festival, when the band was returning from the show, Klaus Milne was whistling the lyrics of ‘Wind of Change’. By the next day, Milne had written down the entire song (Bienstock). Thus was born arguably the most iconic song of the eighties.
The song literally captured the spirit of the times. By the time the Moscow Peace Festival ended, winds of change were literally sweeping through Europe. Gorbachev’s push towards openness had prompted East German opposition movements to publicly criticize the communist regime. Hungary had relaxed its border with Austria, allowing many East Germans to escape to the West.
The epochal moment cam on November 9, 1989, when thousands of East Germans gathered at the Berlin Wall, demanding it be brought down. Amidst tumultuous and joyous scenes that electrified the world, Germany was reunited. At that time, the Scorpions were playing hard rock in Paris, and news about the bringing down of the wall provided a moment of epiphany for the band. At that moment, Meine thought about the thousands who had given up their lives trying to make it from the East to the West, and wondered whether the Wall, and the politics behind it, was worthwhile (Wroe).
In 2005, viewers of the German television network ZDF chose ‘Wind of Change’ as the song of the century. The song is the highest-ever selling song in Germany, and is frequently played with footage of the Berlin Wall coming down, even though the song actually gained popularity two years later (Rockmembers).
Over time, the song has grown to be an anthem song for freedom and breaking down of barriers. The Scorpions have sung the song in Russian and Spanish, and played it in various configurations in orchestras and choirs. They have performed the song numerous times for the architect of Perestroika, Mikhail Gorbachev, most recently during his eightieth birthday in 2011. The song was played as background music in the 2014 movie, ‘The Interview’, in a scene where the protagonists, cradling a small puppy, flee North Korea by boat towards eventual freedom in South Korea (Bienstock).
In many ways, ‘Wind of Change’ remains quintessentially topical and fresh. It remains a clarion call for peace, reflecting the latent desire for humanity to live in peace together, breaking down barriers of religion, culture and politics.
Works Cited
Bienstock, Richard. “Scorpions’ ‘Wind of Change’: The Oral History of 1990s Epic Power Ballad.” Rollingstone.com. September 2, 2015. Web. March 20, 2016.
Rockmembers. “What’s That Song About? Wind of Change.” Rockmembers.com. September 26, 2009. Web. March 20, 2016.
Scorpions. “Winds of Change.” YouTube, 2009. Web. March 20, 2016.
Wroe, David. “Blown Away by the Wind of Change.” AlJazeera.com. November 8, 2009. Web. March 20, 2016.
