‘Not right to romanticise Russia’: Scorpions changes lyrics of ‘Wind of Change’

Klaus Meine, the lead singer of popular German hard rock band Scorpions, revealed that they changed the lyrics of its famous song "Wind of Change" as he no longer wanted to romanticise Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, The Guardian reported.

"To sing Wind of Change as we have always sung it, that's not something I could imagine any more," Klaus Meine, who wrote the song, told Die Zeit, according to The Guardian report.

"It simply isn't right to romanticise Russia with lyrics like: 'I follow the Moskva / Down to Gorky Park … Let your balalaika sing'," he also said.

He said the band had decided to change the words to "Now listen to my heart / It says Ukrainia / Waiting for the wind to change" during their ongoing tour in the US and Europe which began on March 26 in Las Vegas, The Guardian reported.

Scorpions released 'Wind of Change', a perestroika power ballad, in December 1990, a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The song is widely remembered for its reference to the era of changes to the socio-economic aspects of Russia following the end of the Cold War.

In 2005, it was voted song of the 20th century by viewers of the public broadcaster ZDF, The Guardian reported.

"As a musician you hold on to the thought that people in wildly different countries, some of whom may look on each other as enemies, react to music in the same way. That was also the case in Ukraine and Russia," Klaus Meine added.