Wind of Change

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Wind of Change
Scorpions
publication November 6, 1990 (album Crazy World ), February 3, 1991 (single)
length 5:10
Genre (s) skirt
Author (s) Klaus Meine (text), Rudolf Schenker (music)
Label Mercury Records
album Crazy World

Wind of Change is a rock ballad by the band Scorpions , written by Scorpions singer Klaus Meine in September 1989 and released as a single in February 1991. It was known in the media as the so-called " Hymn of the Wende " and is the most successful single from German production.

History of origin

The English-language text celebrates the political change that occurred in Europe towards the end of the 1980s . In the opinion of the SWR, the song "reflects the mood of the end of the 80s like no other rock song , when the great political turning point began with glasnost and perestroika from the Soviet Union." In the text, the lyric self describes how it started on a summer night walks along the Moskva River and listens to the "winds of change" that blow over old enmities. The text advocates east-west understanding and hit the nerve of the times. It accompanied the fall of the Berlin Wall and became the anthem of renewal in the Soviet Union. USSR state and party leader Mikhail Gorbachev received the Scorpions in the Kremlin in December 1991 because of this song .

Klaus Meine said in an interview that the time in 1988/1989 in the Soviet Union was marked by the mood that the Cold War was drawing to a close, that music was what unites people. The memories of this time are also transported in the music video for the song. Meine was inspired by participating in the Moscow Music Peace Festival on August 13, 1989 in the Lenin Stadium , where the Scorpions performed in front of around 300,000 fans:

“The idea for this came to me in the USSR when I was sitting in the Gorky Park Center one summer night and looking at the Moscow River. The song is my personal appraisal of what has happened in the world in recent years. "

- Klaus Meine : Friede, Freude, Hasch und Perestroika , in: Rocks - Das Magazin für Classic Rock , issue 01.2014, p. 88

Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker are the owners of the Wind of Change word mark . Contrary to popular belief, the characteristic whistling in the intro does not come from Ilse Werner , but from mine.

publication

Scorpions - Wind of Change

The song was first released on November 6, 1990 on the Scorpions' Crazy World album . It was only released as a single in February 1991, made it to number 1 in the German charts and also placed in the upper ranks of the charts in many other European countries . In addition, one version of the song sung in Russian and one in Spanish was recorded. In total, at least nine million copies of the single were sold worldwide, making it one of the most successful German productions; the Hamburger Abendblatt is even assuming more than 14 million singles worldwide. In an interview with the American Rolling Stone on September 2, 2015, in which it was about the origin of the song, Klaus Meine estimates the sales figures at 15 million records. With this single, the Scorpions hold the record for the best-selling single by a German band / artist.

The official music video for Wind of Change was clicked over 750 million times on VEVO (as of March 12, 2020), and thus more often than any other song by a German band or a German artist. With him, the Scorpions were the first German band to jump over the 100 million click limit for a song.

The song reached number one in the charts in eleven countries, in addition to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It was number four in the US Billboard charts and number two in the UK charts. In total, the song was in the charts in 78 countries. Wind of Change was the most successful single of 1991 and the world's most played song on radio that year.

Versions (selection)

Awards for music sales

Country / Region Award Sales
Awards for music sales
(country / region, Award, Sales)
Australia (ARIA) Australia (ARIA) Gold record icon.svg gold 35,000
Denmark (IFPI) Denmark (IFPI) Gold record icon.svg gold 45,000
Germany (BVMI) Germany (BVMI) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 500,000
France (SNEP) France (SNEP) Gold record icon.svg gold 250,000
Italy (FIMI) Italy (FIMI) Gold record icon.svg gold 15,000
Austria (IFPI) Austria (IFPI) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 50,000
United States (RIAA) United States (RIAA) Gold record icon.svg gold 500,000
United Kingdom (BPI) United Kingdom (BPI) Silver record icon.svg silver 200,000
All in all Silver record icon.svg1 × silver
Gold record icon.svg5 × gold
Platinum record icon.svg2 × platinum
 1,595,000

Cover versions

One of the first cover versions was that of flutist James Galway , whose album of the same name, Wind of Change, was released between January 22nd and February 2nd, 1994 in Whitfield Street Studios, London. The tenor Jose Carreras released Wind of Change on September 24, 2001 together with Klaus Meine on his album Around the World . Another version was interpreted by the Gregorian Chants with elements of the Gregorian chant and released on the album Rock Ballads on May 2, 2001. Boppin'B released the song on May 25, 2006 on their album Hits .

The group Adoro recorded a German version of the song under the title Wie der Wind sich geht sich , and released it in 2010 on their album Glück . Adam Green and Macaulay Culkin sang the song live in Berlin in 2010.

reception

In 2005, the song was voted the “ hit of the century” in the ZDF broadcast Our Best .

In the film The Interview , the song was chosen as background music in the finale. The song was also used in the computer game Call of Duty: Black Ops and in an episode of the series Chuck and in the program Top Gear .

Trivia

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wieland Harms: The Unplugged Guitar Book. 20 of the most beautiful songs for acoustic guitar. Gerig Music, ISBN 3-87252-249-3 , p. 58 ( Wind Of Change ).
  2. ↑ http://www.abendblatt.de/vermischtes/journal/thema/article1210581/Der-Wende-Hit.html
  3. ↑ a b Quote from SWR Online: The “Scorpions” - Germany's most successful rock export ; the interview could be heard on May 14, 2010 in SWR1 Menschen (Baden-Württemberg).
  4. ↑ Wind of Change : The music video on the official band website
  5. ↑ And now everyone together! , one day of October 6, 2010.
  6. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from December 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ http://www.derwesten.de/nrz/panorama/musikalischer-exportschlager-id783003.html
  8. ^ Hamburger Abendblatt from October 2, 2010, The Wende hit
  9. ^ Richard Bienstock: Scorpions' "Wind of Change": The Oral History of 1990's Epic Power Ballad. In: Rolling Stone . September 2, 2015, accessed February 13, 2019 (American English): "I know that as a single it has sold maybe 15 million copies."
  10. ↑ http://www.vevo.com/watch/scorpions/wind-of-change/USIV30200072
  11. ↑ http://www.vevo.com/watch/scorpions/Wind-Of-Change/USIV30200072
  12. ↑ Invitation to the 1 year anniversary celebration of MJ Guitars Munich ( Memento from March 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  13. ↑ http://www.amazon.de/Moment-Glory-Album-Scorpions/dp/B00004TR0A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345216160&sr=8-1
  14. ↑ http://www.amazon.de/Acoustica-Scorpions/dp/B004JUTHVK/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1345216192&sr=1-1-spell
  15. ↑ http://www.amazon.de/Comeblack-Scorpions/dp/B005OK81HA/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1345216457&sr=1-1
  16. ↑ http://a-ha-live.com/2013/09/12/morten-joins-scorpions-at-mtv-unplugged-shows-in-athens/
  17. ↑ Award in Australia
  18. ^ Award in Denmark
  19. ↑ Award in Germany
  20. ^ Award in France
  21. ↑ Award in Italy
  22. ↑ Award in Austria
  23. ↑ Distinction in the United States
  24. ↑ Award in the United Kingdom
  25. ↑ http://www.amazon.de/Gl%C3%BCck-Adoro/dp/B0047BBW1Y
  26. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAdanY2Fhiw
  27. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7L-b0Eg8W8
  28. ↑ http://www.mediabiz.de/musik/news/wind-of-change-zum-song-des-jahrhunderts-gewaehlt/194602
  29. ^ Bundeswehr: adopted by von der Leyen with a big tattoo . In: Spiegel Online . August 15, 2019 ( spiegel.de [accessed August 16, 2019]).

Web links

Scorpions
Rudolf Schenker  • Klaus Meine  • Matthias Jabs  • Mikkey Dee  • Pawel Maciwoda
Johan Franzon (live) • Herman Rarebell  • Francis Buchholz  • Achim Kirschning  • Uli Jon Roth  • Michael Schenker  • Ralph Rieckermann  • Rudy Lenners  • Jürgen Rosenthal  • Wolfgang Dziony  • Lothar Heimberg  • Karl-Heinz Vollmer • Joe Wyman • Ken Taylor  • Curt Cress  • Barry Sparks  • Ingo Powitzer • James Kottak


Studio albums

Lonesome Crow  (1972) • Fly to the Rainbow  (1974) • In Trance  (1975) • Virgin Killer  (1976) • Taken by Force  (1977) • Lovedrive  (1979) • Animal Magnetism  (1980) • Blackout  (1982) • Love at First Sting  (1984) • Savage Amusement  (1988) • Crazy World  (1990) • Face the Heat  (1993) • Pure Instinct  (1996) • Eye II Eye  (1999) • Moment of Glory  (2000) • Unbreakable  (2004) • Humanity - Hour I  (2007) • Sting in the Tail  (2010) • Comeblack  (2011) • Return to Forever  (2015)

Live albums

Tokyo Tapes  (1978) • World Wide Live  (1985) • Live Bites  (1995) • Acoustica  (2001) • Live 2011 - Get Your Sting and Blackout  (2011) • MTV Unplugged - in Athens  (2013)

Compilation albums

Best of Vol. 1  (1979) • Hot & Heavy  (1982) • Best of Vol. 2  (1984) • Gold Ballads (1988) • Best of Rockers 'n' Ballads  (1989) • Still Loving You  (1992) • Deadly Sting  (1995) • Deadly Sting - The Mercury Years (1997) • Best  (1999) • Millenium Edition (2001) • Bad for Good - The Very Best of (2002) • The Platinum Collection (2005) • Deadliest Stings (2008) • Icon (2010) • Icon 2 (2010) • Still in Trance (2012) • Born To Touch Your Feelings (Best of Rock Ballads) (2017)

Video albums

First Sting (1985) • World Wide Live (1985) • To Russia with Love and Other Savage Amusements (1988) • Crazy World Tour Live (1991) • Moment of Glory - Live (2000) • Acoustica (2001) • A Savage Crazy World (2002) • Unbreakable World Tour 2004 - One Night in Vienna (2005) • Live at Wacken Open Air 2006: A Night to Remember - A Journey Through Time  (2007) • Amazonia - Live in the Jungle (2009) • Scorpions Live in 3D (Blu-Ray 3D) (2011) • MTV Unplugged - in Athens  (2013) • Forever and a Day (2015) • Forever and a Day: Live in Munich (2016)

Singles

Is There Anybody There? • Lovedrive • Make It Real • The Zoo  • Blackout • No One Like You • Still Loving You • Can't Live Without You • Rock You Like a Hurricane  • Big City Nights • Rhythm of Love • Passion Rules the Game • Don't Believe Her • Wind of Change  • Send Me an Angel • Alien Nation • Under the Same Sun • White Dove • Does Anyone Know • When You Came Into My Life • Where the River Flows • To Be No. 1 • Moment of Glory • You Are the Champion • Humanity • Raised on Rock • The Good Die Young • Still Loving You - Je t'aime encore (feat. Amandine Bourgeios) • Dancing with the Moolight / Where the River Flows • We Built This House • Eye of the Storm • Going out with a bang