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. The song was certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA on November 26, 2019, which makes it the second song by the band to reach platinum after "Carry on Wayward Son."[2]
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 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 Psalms 18:42 ("I ground [my enemies] like dust on the face of the wind..."). It is similar 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 and 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][9] 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?"[10][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.'"[11]
Recorded at Woodland Sound Studios in Nashville, "Dust in the Wind" featured Livgren playing a Martin D-28 acoustic guitar borrowed from Williams:[12] 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's 1977 "departure" from Kansas would last a month).[13]
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 Know Return" single[14] 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.[15]
Billboard praised the song's "evocative lyrics", "catchy melody" as well as the lead vocal performance and how the string instruments evoke the mood.[16]Cash Box said that it has "solid melody, excellent vocals and harmonies, and an impactful lyric."[17]Record World said that it "shows a new and pleasantly surprising side of [Kansas]," saying that "it's a subdued vocal duet accompanied only by acoustic guitars and an imaginative violin break."[18]Ultimate Classic Rock critic Eduardo Rivadavia rated "Dust in the Wind" as Kansas' 3rd greatest song, calling it "a stark and gentle lament that bridges the group's transition from intimidating prog rockers to accessible hitmakers."[19]Classic Rock critic Dave Ling ranked it as Kansas' 2nd greatest song.[9]
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
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,[36][37][38][39][40] the song was recorded at the suggestion of Eden's producer: Brightman's then personal partner Frank Peterson.[38]
German rock band Scorpions covered the song on their 2001 live album Acoustica.
In 2011, spanish Folk rock band Mägo de Oz covered and translated the song. The new song, titled "Pensando en ti" changes the lyrics; from a meditation about mortality, it's now a ballad about the desire of meeting a someone that may make your dreams come true
During the 8888 Uprising, Burmese composer Naing Myanmar penned "Kabar Makyay Bu" (ကမ္ဘာမကျေဘူး), rendered in English as "We Won't Be Satisfied till the End of the World" as a protest song.[41] Set to the tune of "Dust in the Wind," the song quickly gained popularity across the country, as an emotional appeal for freedom.[42] The song was recorded and distributed on cassette tapes, reaching millions of Burmese eventually becoming an anthem of the 8888 Uprising.[41] 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.[43]
A rendition is performed by Will Ferrell during a graveside funeral for fraternity brother Joseph "Blue" Pulaski in the 2003 American comedy filmOld School. He concludes by exclaiming "You're my boy, Blue! You're my boy!"[44]
^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.
