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Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son

Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Leftoverture
Released: 1976

Carry On Wayward Son Lyrics

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

Writer/s: LIVGREN, KERRY
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Carry On Wayward Son

This was written by Kansas guitarist Kerry Livgren . According to Livgren, the song was not written to express anything specifically religious, though it certainly expresses spiritual searching and other ideas.

Livgren became an evangelical Christian in 1980, and has said that his songwriting to that point was all about "searching." Regarding this song, he explained: "I felt a profound urge to 'Carry On' and continue the search. I saw myself as the 'Wayward Son,' alienated from the ultimate reality, and yet striving to know it or him. The positive note at the end ('Surely heaven waits for you') seemed strange and premature, but I felt impelled to include it in the lyrics. It proved to be prophetic."

This song can be seen as the continuation of the last song of Kansas' previous album Masque. As stated in the last verse of "The Pinnacle":
"I stood where no man goes/Above the din I rose
Life is amusing though we are losing
Drowned in tears of awe..."

By definition in the Cambridge dictionary, "Din" is a loud unpleasant confused noise which lasts for a long time. The first line of "Carry On Wayward Son" is: "Once I rose above the noise and confusion." (thanks, Rich - Trenton, NJ)

This was the group's first major hit, and like their next one, "Dust In The Wind," it was a last minute addition to the album. Kerry Livgren wrote the song just two days before they started recording Leftoverture. At that point, the band was polishing the songs they had, not bringing in new ones. "I've got one more song that you might want to hear," he told the band, and when he played "Carry On," they knew it was a hit and made it the lead track on the album.

The a cappella vocals in the beginning of this song gave it a very distinctive intro. This worked well on rock radio stations where disc jockeys rarely talked over the music.

This song has appeared in several movies, including Heroes (1977), Happy Gilmore (1996) and Anchorman - The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004).

The Oak Ridge Boys recorded this for the album When Pigs Fly: Songs You Never Thought You'd Hear . Cevin Soling, who put the compilation together, said: "The Oak Ridge Boys, I wanted them to do Nine Inch Nails' 'Closer,' and I had this wonderful arrangement worked out... this very 'Elvira' Country version of the Nine Inch Nails' 'Closer,' with all the doo-wops and poppa oom maus and everything. I could not wait to get them in the studio to work on that. I had alternate lyrics, you know, but they were still uncomfortable with doing that. So that kind of went back and forth and somehow "Wayward Son" got thrown out there. I don't remember exactly who picked that one, but generally I'd give the artist a few choices and they sort of pick among them." (Check out our interview with Cevin Soling.)

This song is featured in the South Park episode "Guitar Queer-O." In the episode, Stan and Kyle become obsessed with the video game Guitar Hero and often play to "Carry On Wayward Son." The song is played throughout the episode. (thanks, Matthew - Hawthorne, NJ)

The album Leftoverture not only propelled Kansas to international stardom, it also saved the band for the time being. Kansas' previous record, Masque, was a commercial failure, and the progressive style of the band and their songs hindered their ability to get serious radio play. While he personally enjoyed the band, producer Don Kirshner gave Kansas one last chance: produce a hit record, or be dropped by the label. Overwhelmed and distressed with the predicament, the band returned to their hometown of Topeka, Kansas, to relax and begin writing for the next album.

Lead singer and keyboard player, Steve Walsh, began suffering from writer's block which hindered his songwriting contributions, and so it was left up to lead guitar player and lyricist, Kerry Livgren, to generate song ideas and lyrics. Sitting at his parent's home, in front of the family organ, Livgren composed the music for what would become "Carry On Wayward Son." In late 2011, Livgren stated in a short interview at his home that the lyrics were partially about himself and the struggles and pressures he was facing at the time when the band's career was on the line. The piano interlude and accompanying verse express how happy the band's success had made him, as well as how sad and fearful he was that it might possibly be over ("I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high"). However, the chorus expresses hope that everything will work out and that he must simply keep going. ("Carry on, my wayward son. There'll be peace when you are done").

In reality, the song was almost not included on the album, and thus contributes to the album's title of Leftoverture. The album title comes from the idea that many of the songs are leftover songs from the band's past. For instance, the string part at the end of the second track, "The Wall", was an old song idea that was added on to the end of the song for the record. The album, while met with mixed reviews by critics, was commercially successful, going platinum five times. "Carry On" became the bands' first Top 40 hit (peaking at #11), and is often regarded as one of the greatest rock songs of all time. It gave Kansas the staying power it needed to keep producing records with Kirshner, and earned Kerry Livgren the reputation as one of the most respected musicians and lyricists in rock and roll. (thanks, Alex - Topeka, KS)

Kansas - All I Wanted

Kansas - All I Wanted Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Power
Released: 1986

All I Wanted Lyrics

All I Wanted
Kansas
(Steve Walsh / Steve Morse)
You say it's time to stay behind
All I wanted was to hold you
All I wanted was to touch you

No need for blame cause we're not the same
All I wanted was to love you
That's all I wanted

How many times will it take
Hurting me the way you do
How many times till I break
You're hurting me the way I'm loving you the way I do

It's not so strange for us to change
All I wanted was to love you that's all I wanted

How many times will it take
Hurting me the way you do
How many times till I break
You're hurting me the way

I'm loving you the way I do
Writer/s: MARTIN CLANCY / PAUL BYRNE
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

All I Wanted Song Chart

What we have here is a power ballad by Kansas. The '80s was filled with rockers from the '70s who got on MTV and added keyboards to their mix (Yes, Chicago and Heart come to mind), but Kansas missed this train, scoring just minor hits in the video era with "Play The Game Tonight" (#17, 1982) and "All I Wanted."

This song is a classic heartbreak ballad, with lead singer Steve Walsh whinging over a breakup, telling the girl that all he wanted was to hold her, touch her, and love her. It was a giant leap from the classic Kansas sound of the previous decade, where they were known for intricate songs like "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Point Of Know Return." In the '00s, Kansas embraced their prog side by touring with Yes, but in 1989, their tourmates were Night Ranger.

This song was written by lead singer Steve Walsh and guitarist Steve Morse. Kansas broke up in 1983 after a poorly attended tour. Kerry Livgren, who was their original guitarist and composer of many of their most popular songs, formed his own band called AD, which recorded Christian rock. When the band got back together in 1986, Morse replaced Livgren, both as guitarist and songwriter.

Morse was a founding member of an eclectic group called The Dixie Dregs, and would later join Deep Purple. In our interview with Morse , he explained how this song came together. "It was mostly a Steve Walsh song that he had been trying to get to fit with Kansas for a couple of albums," he said. "I came in after that was mostly written, and thought, 'You know what? If we change this and this and put in this instrumental and then have this at the end of your phrase, we have that payoff with this guitar line, or do it as a string line, that that would be really cool.'

You know how when somebody walks in and you've been working on something, and they say, 'Hey, you moved this and this around. It'll work, definitely.' That's all I did."

The music video was a bricolage of black-and-white footage, close-ups of Steve Walsh, and some of the rotoscoping effects seen in the a-ha video for "Take On Me." Oddly, Walsh and Morse are the only band members who appear in the clip.

Kansas - Dust In The Wind

Kansas - Dust In The Wind Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Point of Know Return
Released: 1977

Dust In The Wind 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
Oh, ho, ho

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

Writer/s: LIVGREN, KERRY
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Dust In The Wind Song Chart

Kansas guitarist Kerry Livgren wrote this after reading a book of Native American poetry. The line that caught his attention was "For All We Are Is Dust In The Wind."

This got him thinking about the true value of material things and the meaning of success. The band was doing well and making money, but Kerry realized that in the end, he would eventually die just like everyone else. No matter our possessions or accomplishments, we all end up back in the ground.

Kerry Livgren wrote this song when he was under pressure to write a follow-up to the group's hit, "Carry On Wayward Son." While playing his acoustic guitar exercises, his wife suggested that putting lyrics to the patterns would yield his hit song. "I didn't think it was a Kansas-type song," he said. "She said, Give it a try anyway. Several million records later, I guess she was right." (for more on the song, check out our Interview with Kerry Livgren .)

Kansas was almost done writing and rehearsing the Point of Know Return album when their producer, Jeff Glixman, asked if they had any more songs. Livgren reluctantly played this song for his bandmates on acoustic guitar, insisting they wouldn't like it because it was not Kansas. To his surprise, they loved the song and insisted they record it. Livgren then fought against his own song, but was overruled. "Dust In The Wind" became their biggest hit, but Livgren never did think very highly of it. "I tend to like the more bombastic things, like 'The Wall,' he told us.

This slow, acoustic song was not typical of Kansas, whose previous singles included "Carry On My Wayward Son" and "Point of Know Return." It put the band in the position of having their best-known song be one that doesn't reflect their sound.

Kerry Livgren became an evangelical Christian in 1980. He says of his songwriting in the '70s, "I was only expressing my own searching for something," adding, "If you look at my lyrics, even 'Dust in the Wind' is a song about the transitory nature of our physical lives. That falls under the umbrella heading of God."

This was the second big hit for Kansas, following "Carry On My Wayward Son." With two hits under their belt, they were able to headline arena rock shows into the late '70s. Later hits for the band include "Play the Game Tonight" (1982, #17 US) and "All I Wanted" (1986, #19 US).

In the movie Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure, Bill and Ted go back in time and share philosophy with Socrates, who is impressed when Ted, played by Keanu Reeves philosophizes "All we are is dust in the wind."

This was the first acoustic Kansas song, and perhaps the most famous acoustic rock song ever recorded. The song crossed over to a variety of formats, as rock, country, and adult contemporary radio stations all played it.

This song was featured in the comedy Old School starring Will Ferrell and Luke Wilson. Frank (played by Ferrell) sings it at Blue's funeral to commemorate the death of the 90 year old fraternity member. (thanks, Aislinn - Hamilton, Canada)

There was one more verse to this song that Livgren wrote, but never recorded.

The song has been covered and featured in thousands of artistic and commercial entities. It was used in an episode of The Simpsons, and baseball player Bernie Williams played a jazz guitar version of this on an album he released in 2003 called The Journey Within.