Scorpions singer hopes for a new "Wind of Change"
In 1991, the Scorpions celebrated glasnost, perestroika and the fall of the Berlin Wall with the song "Wind of Change". But 32 years later, the world is nowhere near as peaceful as the band and others had hoped at the time. Nevertheless, singer Klaus Meine has not given up hope completely.
Around 30 years after the global success of the song "Wind of Change", Scorpions singer Klaus Meine is disillusioned by the current world situation with wars and the rise of right-wing extremism. He is angry, frustrated and sad because it feels like time is being turned back again, says the 75-year-old.
"We hope for 2024 that the wind will change again and that the new year will bring lasting peace," says Meine. He dreams that the killings and all their victims will stop, "not only in Ukraine or Israel, but also in the Gaza Strip, where many innocent people also lose their lives".
On Tuesday evening, the German band, which has enjoyed success all over the world, was honored in Munich with the Signs Award for its life's work. The event was held under the motto "Wind of positive change", an allusion to the song that accompanied the upheaval in the Soviet Union in 1991 under its then president and later Nobel Peace Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev and celebrated the end of the Cold War.
The song also became the anthem of an entire generation after the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. However, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine under Vladimir Putin in 2022, the Scorpions rewrote the song to show solidarity.
Advice to be vigilant
"It was basically just a small window of time in the late 1980s and early 1990s through which the wind of change blew and people could have hope for a peaceful future between West and East," says Meine. He and his bandmates saw themselves as bridge builders. "Our music has always brought people in all parts of the world together, they sang along to our songs so passionately at our concerts. It was a feeling that we are all people on one planet and are so similar." The reality is different: "The reality is what's on the news in the evening."
Meine advises vigilance: "We have to make sure that what makes Germany what it is and what we grew up with as the post-war generation is preserved: a stable democracy," he demands. "Democracy must never be lost, and this is also an appeal to the younger generation, who did not experience the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall. We must not forget that it is worth fighting for freedom and democracy."
Music gives the star, who lives near Hanover, hope. "Music is always like soul food, food for the soul." The fact that bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones are successful again also gives him hope. "Music can build bridges and connect people, across all political divides, we might all find ourselves listening to a Beatles song or a Stones song and say, now let's think about it."
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Despite the current global conflicts and the rise of extremism, Klaus Meine, the Scorpions singer, remains hopeful for a new "Wind of Change," wanting 2024 to bring lasting peace and an end to violence not just in places like Ukraine and Israel, but also in the Gaza Strip. Music, particularly rock music, continues to give him hope and the belief that music can bridge political divides, connecting people through shared love for iconic bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
Source: www.ntv.de
