Dust in the Wind
- Þorkell Daníel Jónsson
- May 16, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 7, 2022
Composer and lyrics: Kerry Livgren
The song Dust in the Wind was composed in 1977 by Kerry Livgren for the album Point of Know Return by Kansas. Actually, it was not written for the album. His wife just heard him playing some broken chords practice at home. It sounded good to her so she urged him to write lyrics with it and show his mates in the band. He was reluctant to do so because he felt the song did not fit with the band's music.
When the band was about to complete recordings for the album, the conductor, thought something was missing and asked the members if they had any more songs. Livgren played Dust in the Wind, hesitantly though. To his surprise, other band members were impressed and the song went on the album. It is true that the song is by no means typical for Kansas. It must be a bit distressing for them that this is the song people remember when Kansas is mentioned.
The lyrics are philosophical. It deals with the existence of man and that all we do with our lives is pretty small in the large context. Worldly riches do not change a thing because no matter what. Everything ends the same. Every man who lives will die and what he leaves behind eventually disappears. Just like the dust blowing away in the wind.
The song is a simple one yet seductive. Kansas performed the it with two guitars, violin and low violin. The arrangement played here is a fingerstyle arrangement for one guitar, made by Sungha Jung . The cords are simple and it does not take long to lay them down, but it took longer to get the piece up speed in the picking hand. Actually, I haven't quite achieved it yet. The solo part is still problematic.
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