Dust in the Wind

"Dust in the Wind" is a song recorded by American progressive rock band Kansas and written by band member Kerry Livgren, first released on their 1977 album Point of Know Return.

This article is about the 1977 song by Kansas. For the 1986 movie by Hou Hsiao-hsien, see Dust in the Wind (film). For the Todd Rundgren song, see Something/Anything? For the song by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, see Eyes Like the Sky.

"Dust in the Wind"
Single by Kansas
from the album Point of Know Return
B-side"Paradox"
ReleasedJanuary 16, 1978
RecordedJuly 1977
StudioWoodland Studios (Nashville)
GenreSoft rock[1]
Length3:27
LabelKirshner
Songwriter(s)Kerry Livgren
Producer(s)
Kansas singles chronology
"Point of Know Return"
(1977)		 "Dust in the Wind"
(1978)		 "Portrait (He Knew)"
(1978)
Point of Know Return track listing
10 tracks
  1. "Point of Know Return"
  2. "Paradox"
  3. "The Spider"
  4. "Portrait (He Knew)"
  5. "Closet Chronicles"
  6. "Lightning's Hand"
  7. "Dust in the Wind"
  8. "Sparks of the Tempest"
  9. "Nobody's Home"
  10. "Hopelessly Human"

The song peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of April 22, 1978, making it Kansas's only single to reach the top ten in the US. The 45-rpm single was certified Gold for sales of one million units by the RIAA shortly after the height of its popularity as a hit single. More than 25 years later, the RIAA certified Gold the digital download format of the song, Kansas' only single to do so certified as of September 17, 2008.[2]

Kansas version

Inspiration

The title of the song is a Bible reference, paraphrasing Ecclesiastes:[3]

I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth, and I concluded: Everything he has accomplished is futile — like chasing the wind![4]

A meditation on mortality and the inevitability of death, the lyrical theme bears a striking resemblance to the well-known biblical passages Genesis 3:19 ("...for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.") and Ecclesiastes 3:20 (All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.) as well as to the famous opening lines of the Japanese war epic The Tale of the Heike ("...the mighty fall at last, and they are as dust before the wind.") and from a book of Native American poetry, which includes the line "for all we are is dust in the wind."[5]

Writing/ recording/ impact
Kansas band members comment on
the Top Ten success of "Dust in the Wind"
 • Steve Walsh (in 1979): "I thought ['Dust in the Wind'] would be a hit from the very first. It [defies] the basic formulas - the Boston, Foreigner, Heart formula - that most [rock] groups try to follow. They don't realize that it's not the formula [that matters], it's the song."[6]
 • Phil Ehart (in 1989): "We're a hard rock band that's known mostly for a ballad we did [over] ten years ago. We're an album band & it's a fluke [if any] of our songs was a hit single."[7]
 • Rich Williams (in 2010): "Our hits are hits by accident. 'Dust in the Wind' & '[Carry On] Wayward Son' aren't formula songs. They were flukes."[8]

Kerry Livgren devised what would be the guitar line for "Dust in the Wind" as a finger exercise for learning fingerpicking. His wife, Vicci, heard what he was doing, remarked that the melody was nice, and encouraged him to write lyrics for it.[5] Livgren was unsure whether his fellow band members would like it, since it was a departure from their signature style. After Kansas had rehearsed all the songs intended for the band's recording sessions of June and July 1976, Livgren played "Dust in the Wind" for his bandmates, who after a moment's "stunned silence" asked: "Kerry, where has this been?"[9][5] Kansas guitarist Rich Williams would recall that Livgren played his bandmates "a real rough recording of him playing ['Dust in the Wind'] on an old reel to reel. [He] just kind of mumbl[ed] the lyrics, [but] even [hearing it] in that bare form...we said: 'That’s our next single.'"[10]

Recorded at Woodland Studios in Nashville, "Dust in the Wind" featured electric guitar maestro Livgren playing a Martin D-28 acoustic guitar borrowed from Williams:[11] highlighted by the electric violin work of Robby Steinhardt, the track featured Steve Walsh as lead vocalist despite being recorded after Walsh had given his immediately effective resignation to his bandmates (Walsh' 1977 "departure" from Kansas would last a month).[12]

In fact passed-over as lead single choice in favor of its parent album's title cut, "Dust in the Wind" began receiving radio airplay as an album track, factoring into the underperformance of the "Point of No Return" single[13] which dropped out of the Top 40 from its Billboard Hot 100 peak of No. 29 the week the rush-released single of "Dust in the Wind" debuted at No. 81 on the Hot 100 dated January 21, 1978. On the Hot 100 dated April 1, 1978 "Dust in the Wind" reached No. 10—besting the No. 11 peak of the 1977 Kansas breakout hit "Carry on Wayward Son"—rising to a Hot 100 peak of No. 6 with a total Top Ten tenure of seven weeks. "Dust in the Wind" would remain the all-time highest charting single for Kansas: of the group's five subsequent Top 40 hits, only two would reach the Top 20, "Play the Game Tonight" and "All I Wanted" having respective Hot 100 peaks of No. 17 and No. 19.[14]

Billboard praised the song's "evocative lyrics", "catchy melody" as well as the lead vocal performance and how the string instruments evoke the mood.[15]

Kansas also released a live version of the "Dust in the Wind" on their album Two for the Show and a symphonic version on Always Never the Same.

Personnel

Chart performance

Adaptations

Sarah Brightman recorded "Dust in the Wind" for her 1998 album release Eden cited by some critics as an anachronistic item in the operatic pop singer's repertoire,[29][30][31][32][33] the song was recorded at the suggestion of Eden's producer: Brightman's then personal partner Frank Peterson.[31]

During the 8888 Uprising, Naing Myanmar, a Burmese composer, penned "Kabar Makyay Bu" (ကမ္ဘာမကျေဘူး), rendered in English as "We Won’t Be Satisfied till the End of the World" as a protest song.[34] Set to the tune of "Dust in the Wind," the song quickly gained popularity across the country, as an emotional appeal for freedom.[35] The song was recorded and distributed on cassette tapes, reaching millions of Burmese eventually becoming an anthem of the 8888 Uprising.[34] In the aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'etat, the country's nascent civil disobedience movement has revitalized this song, performing it during protests and acts of civil disobedience.[36]

References
  1. "VH1's 40 Most Softsational Soft-Rock Songs". Stereogum. SpinMedia. May 31, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  2. "RIAA - Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - November 10, 2015". Riaa.com. Archived from the original on June 26, 2007. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  3. "A Once Wayward Son Carries On". Christianity Today. March 6, 2006. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  4. "Ecclesiastes 1:14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind". Biblehub.com. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  5. "In the Studio with Point of Know Return, featuring Kansas". In The Studio. September 7, 1992. Archived from the original on December 28, 2004. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
  6. The Tennessean July 6, 1979 "Kansas Influence Puts Group in Successful State of Music" by Walter Carter p.39
  7. Atlanta Constitution February 17, 1989 "Haunted by a Hit, Kansas Would Like Fans to Get Into 'Spirit of Things'" by Russ DeVault p.6D
  8. Sunbury Daily Item August 5, 2010 "Kansas Comes to Valley" by Wayne Laepple pp.D1-D2
  9. Kansas - We Knew It Was Going to Be a Hit, interview (posted to YouTube on January 28, 2015)
    Kerry Livgren tells the story of how Dust In The Wind was written, and how the band reacted to hearing it for the first time.
  10. https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2018/10/01/Kansas-Point-of-Know-Return-40th-anniversary-tour-Rich-Williams-interview-Heinz-Hall-Pittsburgh/stories/201810010105
  11. http://guitarinternational.com/2010/12/24/kerry-livgren-talks-kansas-guitars-and-proto-kaw/
  12. Los Angeles Times 17 February 1980 "Kansas' Walsh: a solo survivor?" by Dennis Hunt p.89 (Calendar)
  13. Cashbox Vol 39 #36 (January 21, 1978) "Success of Kansas Traced to Constant Touring, FM Airplay" by Mark Mehler pp.12,28
  14. https://www.musicvf.com/Kansas.art
  15. "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. January 21, 1978. p. 137. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  16. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  17. "Radio2 top 30: 7 november 2015". Radio2.be. Archived from the original on April 9, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  18. "Dust in the Wind in Canadian Charts". Collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm. Archived from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
  19. "Dust in the Wind in Canadian Adult Contemporary Charts". Collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm. Archived from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
  20. "Discografie Kansas". Dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Archived from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  21. "Infodisc : Tous les Titres de chaque Artiste". Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
  22. "Discography Kansas". charts.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  23. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 133.
  25. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on March 23, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  27. "Gold and Platinum Search". Archived from the original on January 29, 2013.
  28. "RIAA - Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - November 10, 2015". Riaa.com. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  29. Arizona Republic June 22, 2006 "Popera Primer" by Randy Cordova p.7
  30. Florida Today June 22, 2006 "Brightman Experiments With New Sounds in Eden" by Breuse Hickman p.TGIF13
  31. "NOISE: Interview With A Not-So-Diva Diva - Las Vegas Weekly". lasvegasweekly.com.
  32. Minneapolis Star Tribune July 22, 1999 "Music: Sarah Brightman" by Jon Bream p.E13
  33. Washington Post June 30, 1999 "Eden: a weird garden of songs" by Richard Harrington
  34. "Songwriter Who Provided 'Theme Song' to 8888 Uprising Finally Honored". The Irrawaddy. August 9, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  35. "'Driving evil out': Myanmar people kick up din to protest coup". France 24. February 4, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  36. "Myanmar blocks Facebook as resistance grows to coup". AP NEWS. February 4, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
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