I have been completely taken by the podcast series Wind Of Change. It an 8 part podcast that reveals the CIA’s hand in the 90’s hit single, Wind of Change by the German rock band, Scorpians. Rolling Stone has a story about this podcast and how it all happened. I highly recommend giving it a listen. Unfortunately, the series is only available on Spotify instead of the open internet, thankfully it’s not behind a Spotify paywall.
Listening to the song and the podcast and it’s easy to understand how and why this one song became the rallying cry for hope and freedom during the end of the Cold War.
Music has that power.
We all know the impact of music in our own country during the Civil Rights era. Music intertwined with civic activism. It served to release our frustration. Our desire to reject the status quo. To breathe hope into life. To aspire, connect, and push for something better for the nation and the world.
Of course, there is a meaningful contrast between the CIA backed Scorpian single and Bob Dylan, CCR, Same Cooke, Nina Simone and others. These 1960s protest artists wrote songs from the heart that gave voice to hope and change.
Music has that power. And I can imagine protest music coming back to our lives as we face enormous challenges at this moment.