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"Wind of Change" is a power ballad by the West 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. The lyrics were composed by Meine following the band's visit to the USSR 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 USSR.

"Wind of Change" 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 while peaking at number four in the United States on August 31, 1991, 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") 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. 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.

"Wind of Change" was so notable in it's success and timeliness with the political climate of Europe at the time of release, that is come to be known as the "soundtrack for the end of the Cold War". Being a band formed in West Germany, the Scorpions were acutely familiar with the separation of the nation and the sentiment held by the German people and the greater European continent regarding the Cold War. The popularity of the song was worldwide, as noted in chart records, but the notoriety of the song was first and strongest in Europe, where it was first released in France. Having been written from the perspective of a German band who had experienced the "wind of change" directly in their time in the USSR, this song spoke to the sentiment widely shared in that era. "Wind of Change" had a profound impact not only on the general populous of Europe, but on leaders as well. Former soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev is known to have been a fan of both the Scorpians and "Wind of Change" itself, having invited the band to personally perform the song and discuss within the Kremlin. Gorbachev has remained invested in this song and band, having most recently invited the band to perform for his 80th birthday in 2011. In 2005, listeners in Germany named "Wind of Change" the song of the century, reflecting the importance of the message of the song at the time of release and in the decades since.

Background and writing[edit]
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.

Soviet Russia began with the October Revolution in 1917, where the Russian government was overthrown by the Bolsheviks. Later in 1922, Soviet Russia became the Soviet Union after its unofficial unification with the Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, and Byelorussian Republics. At this time, Joseph Stalin came into power, amplifying the authoritarian control in the Soviet Union. Stalin's rise to power in the Soviet Union led to an increasingly violent and repressive government, where political freedoms were severely restricted. Dissidents were exiled to Gulags or executed by members of the NKVD.

For much of World War II (1939-1945), Russia aggressively fought Nazi Germany. Although Russia had formed a non aggression pact with Germany in 1939, the Germans would break this deal in 1941 when they chose to invade Russia in what was known as Operation Barbarossa. This created an opportunity for the Soviets to overtake parts of Europe and expand, as they did.

At the conclusion of the Second World War, the leaders of the Allied Nations met at the Potsdam Conference to discuss what to do about Germany. Those talks concluded with Russia getting what became East Germany and the Allies getting what then became West Germany. Furthermore, the capital city of Berlin was divided into areas of control with the Western half of the city again being controlled by America, France, and the U.K., and the Eastern half being controlled by the Soviet Union. To prevent East Germans from crossing into the more liberalized West an Inner German Border wall was built. However, this could not prevent East Germans from crossing into the West via the divided city of Berlin. Therefore, it became necessary for the Germans to construct a wall surrounding West Berlin to prevent East Germans from flying to freedom. on 13 August, 1961 East German military began to construct what became known as the Berlin Wall; a structure which would stand until its removal in 1989.

The Scorpions were formed on the western side of the wall, in Hanover, in the “shadow of the Berlin Wall.” They experienced the Soviet Union’s harshness and its transition to a softer version of isolationism first-hand. In 1988, they were asked to play in Leningrad, Russia for the first time, and they took it very seriously. They were only the second Western music act to perform in Russia.

In 1989, they were asked to perform in Russia again as part of the Moscow Peace Festival. This was a very meaningful opportunity to the band, as they had lived with the “tension of the Soviet presence their entire lives and had friends behind the Soviet ‘Iron Curtain’”. The band arrived in Moscow a week before the festival, and it was during this time the inspiration for “Wind of Change” moved vocalist Klaus Meine. When the band returned from Russia, Meine and the band started working on the song in full and it was released a few months later on their album “Crazy World”.

The influence of Moscow in "Wind of Change" is apparent in their lyrics, as 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

Issue[edit]
The key issue at the heart of this song is the Cold War. The Cold War was a conflict mainly between the United States of America and Russia and their conflicting values. This conflict was heavily between communism and capitalism. The USSR wanted a socialist society with everyone sharing their resources and profits in order to benefit society. However America was on the complete other end of that ideology by the philosophy of hard work creates success and people have the right to individualism and earning things for themselves. Russia wanted political control with an iron fist, imprisoning and killing many if they had different views than the government in hope to put down and possible rebellions so that the Soviet leaders could have power as long as possible. However America did not approve of the way they ruled. America wanted freedom for all and they saw that the people of the USSR did not get those freedoms since they were being oppressed by their own government. Another Key issue the song covers are the repercussions of the Cold War. These repercussions include the building of the Berlin Wall, the policing of European citizens, "Soldiers passing by". The dividing of Germany created chaos in Europe as violence escalated along with serious poverty, cries for help, and struggle by German citizens due the fact that they were stuck in the battle between Russia and the United States. The Berlin wall came down reuniting Germany and there were multiple protests throughout the communist block of eastern Europe that led to the decrease of communism in the region. The cry for change and revolution was a constant and this song was used as inspiration and celebration when the Berlin Wall finally fell. The focus of the song acts a response to the issues going on at the time and acted as motivation that positive change could happen and will happen. Since the Berlin wall was a key issue during the Cold War, the song is a good representation of the changing coming to Germany when the wall was torn down. Specifically it shows the change of Germany reuniting to become a very successful state. Also after the war the world stated to focus on being united and rejected the bi-polar policy that was constant throughout the conflict. The song looks into the uniting of the world and their finally being peace.

Legacy[edit]
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. In 2005, viewers of the German television network ZDF chose this song as the song of the century. "Wind of Change" is featured in the films In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2007), Gentlemen Broncos (2009), The Interview (2014), and Love Island (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 and Nutri Ventures parody version.

The song is the subject of the podcast "Wind of Change," released May 11, 2020, raising questions regarding the song's origin. The podcast investigates the suggestion that the song was written by or connected to the CIA, citing a rumor originating allegedly from inside the agency. In a SiriusXM interview with Eddie Trunk on May 13, 2020, Meine stated "It’s a podcast, and there will be a lot of people who will get into this. It’s a fascinating idea, and it’s an entertaining idea, but it’s not true at all.”