All We Are Is "Dust in the Wind." Or are we?

An Iowan's special tie to the iconic rock ballad that remains popular almost 50 years after its original release

This past Sunday night, I had the pleasure of warming up the stage for the incredibly talented musicians of Get Off My Lawn at xBk Live in Des Moines. GOML specializes in ’60s and ’70s rock, bringing classic songs to life and filling a room with nostalgic joy and tight four-part harmonies.

In addition to impressive musical chops, these gentlemen have some incredible stories from being integral members of the rock scene for decades. One standout tale is the genesis of the of the '“fluke” 1977 hit “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas. The song peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and, as I write this now, has a not-so-modest 850,199,385 streams on Spotify alone.

As the story goes, the band White Clover spent quite a bit of time at the 505 Club, located at 505 East Army Post Road on the southside of Des Moines, before they officially became Kansas in the early ’70s. At the same time, Mike Condon, now lead guitarist of Get Off My Lawn and an Iowa Rock 'n Roll Music Association Hall of Fame inductee, participated in weekend afternoon jam sessions with his drummer, Steve Way, where he befriended Kerry Livgren and Rich Williams, founding members of Kansas.

“Kerry and Rich wanted to learn fingerpicking. I wanted to learn some lead licks. So, we decided to trade lessons,” said Mike Condon, “I taught them Travis-style finger picking – floating from C to Am with a melody on the second string. The lesson became the opening bars to Dust in the Wind.”

Livgren’s wife would later hear him working through the lesson and encouraged him to put lyrics to the pretty melody. So he did, taking inspiration from the Bible and Native American poetry.

According to Wikipedia,

“The title of the song is a Bible reference, paraphrasing Ecclesiastes:^[4]

I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth, and I concluded: everything he has accomplished is futile — like chasing the wind!^[5]

A meditation on mortality and the inevitability of death, the lyrical theme bears a striking resemblance to the 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.").

The phrase "dust in the wind" occurs in a book of Native American poetry, which includes the line "for all we are is dust in the wind."^[6] It is also similar to both Psalms 18:42 ("I ground [my enemies] like dust on the face of the wind...") and 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."

Knowing that the song was a departure from his group’s quintessential rock sound, it took Livgren some time to finally share it. In the summer of 1976, he finally worked up the courage and mumbled through the lyrics to his bandmates at the end of a session. The band was floored and immediately declared it to be their next single.

According to 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.”

But was it a fluke? The Universe has a role in making beautiful things come to life. There’s almost always confluence and collaboration at the origin of meaningful and lasting art. The time, the place, the people, the Zeitgeist was right for this gorgeous melody and philosophical message to take root right here in central Iowa.

We could certainly be more philosophical these days. Spend more time considering nuance versus headlines. More empathetic. More understanding. More just there for each other.

Or maybe just less greedy, because “all your money won't another minute buy.”

Here’s the YouTube link so you can experience this legendary track. Perhaps take a pause and enjoy one of the all-time great ballads. Just be in the moment with it. Being alive is the ultimate gift, may we use this time wisely and with love in our hearts.

Dust in the Wind by Kerry Livgren

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 (ah, ah, ah)

Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Oh, oh, oh

Now, don't hang on
Nothin' last 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
In the wind

Songwriter: Kerry Livgren.

Get Off My Lawn was founded by Mike Condon, Jeff Martin and, the recently retired from the band but forever a legend, Steve Mathews. Several members are in the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in Arnolds Park and a couple are friendly Canadian imports, including Jim Dunn, who has a Gordon Lightfoot Sundown story I can’t wait to hear more about.

You can follow them on Facebook here.

• Mike Condon, guitars & vocals (inducted IRRHOF in 2013 for Salt River)

• Jeff Martin, acoustic guitar & lead vocals (inducted IRRHOF in 2009 for Con Brio and Salt River 2013)

• Paul Wilson, guitar (inducted as a solo artist into IRRHOF in 2009 and for Salt River in 2013)

• Jim Dunn, bass and vocals (Canadian import)

• Chris Baszczynski, keyboards & vocals (Canadian import)

• Kim Jackson, drums & vocals (and one heckuva sound guy)

Thank you for reading Chip Happens. To find more stories and insights across the state of Iowa, please consider following and supporting the many talented journalists and storytellers of the Iowa Writer’s Collaborative.

My next show will be at the Legendary Byron’s in Pomeroy, Iowa on Sunday, March 2 at 5pm. Would love to see you there.

Also, here is the Zoom link for this month’s Office Lounge for paid subscribers to the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. It’s always held on the last Friday of the month at noon, except for November and December, and hosted by Robert Leonard. The next session for the group is this coming Friday, February 28.