Dust in the Wind

"I close my eyes, Only for a moment, then 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"

For those that don't know (in which case your musical education was sadly neglected!!) the above lyrics are a song by the prog-rock band Kansas. They are famous for "Carry On My Wayward Son", most excellent!

Anyway, the reason I am posting the lyrics here is that I re-discovered the song the other evening whilst pruning my hard drives. When I heard it again it struck me as a great Atheist theme-song! Hold your objections, if we delve into the meaning for a moment it's not wholeheartedly depressing!! Don't judge a song by its chorus!

If we examine the first line;

"I close my eyes, Only for a moment, then the moment's gone
All my dreams, Pass before my eyes, a curiosity"

this, to me, describes the ever-changing nature of life, especially ourselves. Look at how you were and what you believed ten years ago, how different is your life now? We live and learn, and our ambitions mature.

Now we come to the main theme of the song;

"Dust in the wind
All they are is dust in the wind"

which in this context is stating how life moves on, everything that you once were is now long gone. However, the remnant of it, the dust in this analogy, is still present in having evolved into your present self.

Some have gone on to translate the next two verses with some religious significance (Kerry Livgren, who wrote the lyrics, was very spiritual and ended up a Christian, although most fans at this point, put him as a "wondering spiritualist" searching for his ethos of choice.). It is true that the verses easily lend themselves to such an interpretation, as the impermanence of this world is described, and that "earth and sky" part is seen as a distinguishing marker between the kingdoms of men and god. It could even be factually accurate that Kerry Livgren was trying to express his general feeling of this spiritual impetus at that time, without yet having fully formed his own philosophy. However, my translation of this section is thus...

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

This represents the interconnectedness of all matter (Theory of Conservation of Mass, I'm being scientific here, not esoteric!). We can build what we like with what we've got while we're here, but it's only borrowed (I know that sounds all Na'vi crazy, but it happens to be taken from aforementioned theory!!).

"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"

I translate "earth and sky" here as just that and nothing more. The natural world itself. The message here is something akin to the old "you can't take it with you" regarding money and material possessions. Don't attach too much importance to the material, enjoy the experiences of life. I think that sentiment is cemented in the final line referring to the limited time we have.

The song is as secular a call to people as I've ever heard to take a more spiritual approach to life. There is nothing more sad than to watch an atheist run their lives totally around the acquisition of things, having missed all the fun and experience of happy relationships that a thoughtful life can bring. So live for the moment folks, and apologies if this took up too many of yours!

GG