Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February hit everyone like a ton of bricks. The war between the two countries is still going on almost a year later. Everyone, including musicians, has tried to do their part in the fight. One of the bands that took a stance against Russia was Scorpions. The band decided to change a few of the lyrics of their track ‘Wind Of Change’ to support Ukraine. Here’s what frontman Klaus Meine had to say about his decision to do so.
“When we started the Rock Believer tour in Vegas, talking about the setlist, putting some new songs to the setlist,” Meine recalled. “What do we do with playing ‘Wind Of Change,’ you know? I thought we rather take it out of the set or if we keep playing it. I mean, the song was such a promise of peace, and that promise broke on February 24 of last year.”
The singer continued, “So I had to fill in that; I had to change at least a few words because I felt it was not right to romanticize Russia with words like ‘I follow the Moskva down to Gorky Park,’ you know. So I had to change it and let my heart do the talking, and that’s exactly what I did.” Instead of the original lines, Meine sang, ‘Now listen to my heart / It says Ukrainia / Waiting for the wind to change’ to show that they stood behind Ukraine.
“We played around 60 shows last year, and wherever we went, we saw many people crying when we played that song, and it hit them deep in their emotions,” added Meine about the emotion that the lyrics brought out of people who were feeling for the people that were suffering in Ukraine.
The track was initially inspired by the band’s first shows back in the Soviet Union, which was a nod to the Cold War ending. However, after the Russian forces’ attack last February, Klaus Meine decided to play the track with different lyrics to show their support to everyone in Ukraine.
