Song for Day 48 - "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas

Kansas in 2016.

Day 48 - "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas (1977)

     The pride of Topeka, Kansas, had their first commercial success in 1977 with "Carry On My Wayward Son"  from their "Leftoverture" album of the previous year.  With the benefit of hindsight, the lyrics were eerily prophetic, even as we try not to think of Schmuck à l'Orange as we read them:

Carry on my wayward son,
For there'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion
I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high
Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a mad man
I hear the voices when I'm dreamin', I can hear them say
Carry on my wayward son,
For there'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know
On a stormy sea of moving emotion
Tossed about I'm like a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune, but I hear the voices say
Carry on my wayward son,
For there'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
Carry on, you will always remember
Carry on, nothing equals the splendor
Now your life's no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you
Carry on my wayward son,
For there'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more

Kerry Allen Livgren of Kansas.

    Guitarist Kerry Allen Livgren, who became a born again Christian in 1980, was the creative talent behind both of the ensemble's breakthroughs.  "Dust in the Wind" from the 1977 "Point of Know Return" album is their biggest hit.  The music is a departure from everything else this progressive rock group ever did.  Why so?  Because it was a fingerpicking exercise that Livgren's wife enjoyed hearing.  Fortunately, Kerry was able to convince the band to record it.

    On Day 45 ("Losing My Religion") we began this discussion of duality/ambiguity, using the acrostic curgina "Beans" as an example.  While we rely on local voices (more of whom should be liberal clergy) in the states, presidential candidates must speak to red and, especially, purple state voters using biblical overtones without alienating more secular or non-Christian audiences.
  
    Secular listeners often regard "Dust in the Wind" as an atheist's anthem, similar to John Lennon's "Imagine".  "All we are is dust" doesn't seem to leave much room for a spirit or an afterlife. To those of faith, this song is downright hymnal, given that the lyrics are based on Ecclesiastes 1:14:

I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth, and I concluded:
Everything he has accomplished is futile — like chasing the wind!

     ...to say nothing of Genesis 3:19 from the King James Version:

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Earl Gray's 182nd Law.

     So, everything is in the interpretation, right?  Well, yes, but those interpretations are not "happy accidents".  Apart from the serendipitous praise from Kerry's wife during practice, this song was a very well-planned one.

     Among other things, this dual tracking is why some of us consider "Dust in the Wind" the greatest song of the last half century.

     There are a number of other versions, including one by Sarah Brightman, but this is another case where we should accept no substitutes.

Lyrics:

I close my eyes only for a moment,
and the moment's gone
All my dreams pass before my eyes,
a curiosity

Dust in the wind,
all they are is dust in the wind

Same old song,
just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do crumbles to the ground,
though we refuse to see

Dust in the wind,
all we are is dust in the wind

Now, don't hang on,
nothing lasts forever
but the earth and sky
It slips away,
and all your money
won't another minute buy

Dust in the wind,
all we are is dust in the wind
(all we are is dust in the wind)
Dust in the wind
(everything is dust in the wind),
everything is dust in the wind
(the wind)