The Wind of Change, by The Scorpions

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Every once in a while there are songs that enclose a message that appeals to feelings of common interest as well as historical events. The interesting thing about these songs is that they give to the future listeners a perception of what was being felt about that specific moment in history. For instance, “The Wind of Change” by the Scorpions is one of the few songs that as far as I know do this. This song is about the historical changes that succeeded the downfall of communism as well as the Berlin wall. Hence, the lyric of this song encloses the feelings of a generation that sees peace and freedom for the first time after a long time of hostile political relationships. This message could be perceived after the first time the song is heard. Yet, by paying attention to the poetical devices used in this song, listener could have a better appreciation about the tone and theme that this song encloses.

The setting of this song hints the importance of the historical background that this song encloses. The lyric starts as the author situates himself following the “Moskva,” which is a river that runs through Moscow the capital of Russian. As he follows the river he gets to “Gorky Park” referring to an amusement park situated in Moscow. Yet, through the mention of these two places and the fact that the song is written in the late eighties the audience is able to situate themselves in the time when big political changes were taking place in Russia. Besides of mentioning a spatial setting the author also makes reference to a temporal setting: “August summer night.”

Since the tittle of the song the audience is able to see that the phrase “Wind of change” is the controlling metaphor of this song. “Wind of Change” is an extended metaphor...

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...composer of this song is what sets a tone of peace, freedom and hope in this lyric. For example, expression like soldiers passing by in an August summer night, makes a contrast between danger and peace. Yet, the peaceful tone predominates because the soldiers are also “listening to the wind of change.” Another expression that depicts a peaceful tone in this song is the expression “peace of mind,” which is an example of imagery to evoke a feeling of serenity, and consequently a peaceful tone. A tone of freedom is clearly represented with the repetition of the idea of “where children of tomorrow share dreams,” as well as with the phrase “freedom bell.” Finally, of hope is set by the repetition of connotative figures like “magic moment” and “glory night.”

Considering altogether setting, figures of speech and tone we can finally conclude what is this song is about.

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