What does Dust in the Wind mean?

Kansas: Dust in the Wind Meaning

Album cover for Dust in the Wind album cover

Song Released: 1978


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...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jan 10th 2013 !⃝

    Live life to the fullest, embrace it, savor it, and don't look back with any regret. For ultimately what we have is only a certain amount of time. When that is up the show is over. There are no re-do's.

    So basically it's the message that life is fleeting, nothing lasts forever, and when you are gone the passage of time will erase your existence.
    So don't get bogged down in trivialities and meaningless endeavors.

    It's all about TIME. Don't WASTE it!

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    May 11th 2013 !⃝

    I think this song is a mixture of reality and religion. I just read an interpretation where someone was saying that Kerry was a religious man, and that he was referring to a bible verse that we often hear on Ash Wednesday. As a fellow Christian, I think that may be a possibility. However, I also think he is trying to remind us that we aren't as big as we wish to be. I love the line where he says, "all your money won't another minute buy". I think that is more of a reality type reference, because in the end of your life when you're on your death bed, it won't matter if you're the richest person. Money can't buy you time in the end. And once you're dead (dust in the wind) all that money has no purpose to you. This song is so beautiful.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Aug 3rd 2008 !⃝

    This song is a reminder that we are mortal and we are very very small. ultimately everything we do in life will be lost and forgotten in history. This does not make me uncomfortable, rather it shows me that my problems are minuscule and should not be blown out of proportion. after all, if I am so small, than my problems must be even smaller. and if you fail, oh well, its gonna be forgotten in time anyway. give it your best shot, you only live once.

  4. anonymous
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    Jul 29th 2021 !⃝

    It translates to FLOW, a concept about work. When there is so much to do yet we love and like about everything we do and and we let time go by, never complaining. We are just dust you see under a sun ray.
    Imagine this, you play tennis and your forget everything else except that ball.
    Flow is a concept suitable for high achievers

  5. anonymous
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    Oct 6th 2016 !⃝

    This song was never written by Kansas.

    This a stolen song. The real artist is from Toronto, Canada. The song inspired by many debilitating events happening to the artist; Multiple Sclerosis. She has been suffering most of her life. Her name is Cathy Cowel the name on the original music sheets sent in 1974 to New York. The rest is history..

  6. anonymous
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    Sep 22nd 2016 !⃝

    Well this song in my opinion makes me think what bad things come they are dead in fast because it wouldn't be true to come. It makes me think of my family and all the problem that comes. That is why I like it, because everything that sounds sad is smaller than we think mostly. Just like when someone pasts away.

  7. anonymous
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    Feb 12th 2016 !⃝

    This song is an acknowledgement that eventually, whether it is when we die or after, our impact on the world will fade away. It doesn't involve religion, but rather sticks to facts. It is only talking about life; not what happens after.

    To me it is saying that rather than seeking success, fame, fortune, etc we should try to enjoy the time we have.

  8. anonymous
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    May 27th 2013 !⃝

    Such a beautiful song.. its about humans. A man is dying and he is looking back on his life. he starts to realize everything he did will just be forgotten in time, and It's not important, like dust floating in the breeze. Everything seems like something huge, but in reality our life is so small in this huge earth, and you eventually die, and even though it seems big, it's something tiny and short on the earth that will be around for billions of years. its so beautiful

  9. anonymous
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    May 13th 2013 !⃝

    At first it reminded me of Eastern philosophy text. I finally wikid it and ...actual inspiration was from a book of Native American poetry, which includes the line "for all we are is dust in the wind. Doesn't surprise me as every spiritual message is the same just different messengers!

  10. mark.willingham.108
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    Jan 17th 2013 !⃝

    This song is very,very honest.early in the lyric he seems to be expressing discontent with the world he has found himself in.but by the end of the song,he seems to have found the strength to say "dont hang on".I think we can all relate.sometimes life leaves us saying "there must be more".But other times we are able to face the brutal truth and find real peace and beauty in that truth.

  11. anonymous
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    Oct 22nd 2012 !⃝

    This song sounds pretty hopeless... It may or may not have Christian influences, but the main message is..... Life is meaningless... Ordinarily, I'd be suicidal after hearing this song... But.... Love shall never die... And this unending Joy that I found inside of me... That will ALSO never die.... :)

  12. Classics123
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    Sep 29th 2012 !⃝

    In one word:humility

  13. anonymous
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    Apr 10th 2012 !⃝

    This song purely means that there is nothing else out there. Yes, Livgren wrote this, but he wrote this prior to becoming a Christian. He was on the 700 Club when Pat Robertson asked him how, he as a christian, was able to write this song. Uh, Pat, that was before Livgren found Christ.

  14. anonymous
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    Mar 6th 2012 !⃝

    I think this song speaks to the soul spirit. I don't think it's morose or depressing. I think it's cleansing. It tells us how life is. It is fleeting, momentary... Life goes on until it's gone. And that we shouldn't burden ourselves with these temporary things. When we fight, when we lose someone, when we fail, when we are sad, these are temporay, because they are "dust in the wind." Our lives are brief here, easily forgotten as people live only for themselves. I think the song says don't be too proud of all you have done, all you have accumulated because they will be gone someday as will you. Also because the lyrics were written from a line in a Native American poem,I believe the poem also reminds that because we are fleeting on this earth, we ought to tread lightly.

  15. anonymous
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    Feb 20th 2012 !⃝

    The best interpretation of this song I heard from a high school classmate who ended up dying way too young of cancer so his thoughts really resonate with me. I said that I thought the song was depressing and he told me it was magical because when he hears it he thinks of glitter flying in the wind. Now when I hear the song, I think about being connected to the earth through birth and death and the wonderful sparkle of glitter in the wind that my friend Mark envisioned as the beauty of the lives that have passed.

  16. anonymous
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    Feb 4th 2012 !⃝

    I think this is a very beautiful song. It reminds me us (humans) as the dust and the winds are the power of our creator. I believed we are blown by the power of GOD in every place or jouney of our lives.

  17. Sophia
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    Nov 25th 2011 !⃝

    Psalm 103:14-17
    " 14 For He knows what we are made of,
    remembering that we are DUST.

    15 As for man, his days are like grass—
    he blooms like a flower of the field;

    16 when the WIND passes over it, it vanishes,
    and its place is no longer known.

    17 But from eternity to eternity
    the LORD's faithful love is toward those who fear Him,
    and His righteousness toward the grandchildren"

    I don't think you there is any other way to understand this song without using this scripture verse. The Bible never says we will live forever on this world, or without pain and suffering. But it does say we will be with Christ in eternity if we acknowledge our sins, and believe that Christ died for them, and loves us with faithful love.

    This was my father's favorite song. He died a week ago today, after having become a Christian at age 82. We played it at his Memorial today, a testimony to the fact that while his body was dust in the wind, his memories live on in our hearts, and he is with Christ, with no more pain and suffering. My father lived life to the max - professional athlete, Ph.D professor and educator, coach and mentor, but in the end, he realized only God mattered, and only God lasted forever, and he wanted to be with him.

  18. anonymous
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    Oct 5th 2011 !⃝

    this song is not about being worthless or meaningless. i think its about how we are in such a big world and we seem so small "like a drop of water in an endless sea". it also says " i close my eyes, only for a moment and the moments gone" that is saying that you can close your eyes and worry about whats next to come or you can enjoy it because you can never buy that moment back no matter how much money you have, God will still choose when you die. its saying that you can sit and in fear of what is next because the truth is that no one knows. you should enjoy everything you have even though our memories and us will eventually be forgotten and lost like "dust in the wind" or we feel so small like we are nothing. its about how our choices can effect our future of unknown and that we should just do whatever feels right because our rememberance on this world will just become dust in the wind

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