Take a Trip On the Nostalgia Train with AWOLNATION’s ‘Wind of Change’ (Featuring Brandon Boyd and Portugal. The Man)

How do you know if you’re into nostalgia? Do commercials with old people make you cry? Have you ever fallen into a depression after tossing an old sweatshirt? If you still keep a box of all your old valentine cards and book reports from school, then you’ll love the new AWOLNATION video.

‘Wind of Change’ is more than a bittersweet reimagining of The Scorpions 1990 hit celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall. It’s also a kaleidoscope of nostalgia footage from a bygone era that reads almost like a warning.

But don’t be frightened, AWOLNATION sweetened the deal with guest appearances from Brandon Boyd and Portugal The Man. Together, the effect is a gentle plea for humankind to slow down and take stock.

The mesmerizing five-minute track eerily floats in on bright pads and a haunting whistle taking its time to reminisce about a long-forgotten day in Moscow’s Gorky Park. Peppered with the perfect synth sounds of the eighties’ best ballads, even the trading vocals harken back to the world-healing vibes of Band Aid and USA for Africa. Yet just as eyes begin to mist over, the backbeat crashes in with spaciously Beatlesesque drum breaks you can bob your heavy heart to.

With strange rumblings out of Russia once again, the song is a timely reminder that everyone has way more fun when soldiers put down their guns and pick up a Zim Zam paddle. Life is sweet and fleeting, and as an uncertain future continues to press pause on our dreams, the time is ripe for a wind of change.

Cover Photo: Mat Hayward (Getty Images)