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Rating: This is not a review of an entire album, but only of one of its tracks. I don't know if this can be done, if in the end the editors will approve it, but I'm taking the risk.
While writing, I'm seeking support from the official website of this band, about which I know nothing and whose name I only discovered more recently. Before the Internet, "Dust in the wind" was simply in my heart, along with the people who introduced it to me, sung by a guy with no name or history, and even with a title we attributed based on the chorus. It remained that way for several years (about eight), then one boring evening, Google provided in seconds a frame and a context to a picture that had been put aside in a corner of my memory, after being much loved.
I absolutely don't know who the Kansas are, what they do and what they've done, I don't know what kind of music they play, but I can tell you (if you're interested) that in 1978 they released "Point of know return" (very cool psychedelic colored cover) and the single "Dust in the wind" reached 6th place on the charts of that time. Who knows what the kids who bought and maybe appreciated this CD were like (it would be more correct to speak of vinyl considering the period), I for my part stumbled across this song exactly twenty years later.
Thanks to a friend engulfed in great romantic turmoil, an uncle (of the friend) owner of the largest record store in my area, a battered radio and an anonymous cassette. Typical of my friend who, you should know, was a bit strange, one evening started telling me about his sufferings while in the background this piece was playing. Small detail, the background was excessively long... then I thought "Either Loris is slow to speak, or he's boring and time never passes, or it's this song that's eternal."
Pretending nonchalance, I approached the radio and with a quick play of fingertips on FFWD, STOP and PLAY (I was training my fingers for chat and text messages, but I didn't know it yet) I confirmed the tragic truth... to avoid finding that song on tape every time, Loris had wisely decided to record a full 90 MINUTES of "Dust in the wind", full tape space. A nightmare, if it weren't that... that song entered my soul that evening and every evening thereafter.
A sweet yet poignant ballad, guitar, voice, and violins punctuating a few words (the track is short, unlike my friend's sound experiments) but they have an enveloping rhythm that won't let you go, that makes you want to yield and close your eyes, to dream and smile and a bit even cry.... the wonderful instrumental interlude of violins alone performing the theme, introducing the second verse in simple counterpoint, with the guitar closing with the same chords as the opening.
Each time I listen, it ends with a feeling of suspension, emptiness, incompletion, almost a sonic enjambment that, however, is interrupted, leaving you curious to know what that missing verse would have wanted to say. I don't know if this is due to the fact that the famous cassette was recorded from a dusty vinyl and therefore was "enriched" by a series of rustlings that made everything much more... dusty! No one ever could tell me who those singers were, and I wasn't even sure I wanted to find out... it was enough for me to revel in those notes and be moved by those honest lyrics that struck me from the first listen ("I close my eyes only for a moment and the moment's gone, and all my dreams pass before my eyes of curiosity [. . . ] Don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the immense sky, it slips away and all your money won't another minute buy...").
There was nothing more than this, an endless cassette and 6 friends listening to it in a small white 126 car, feasting on cheap beer and slice pizza while growing up every day.... and precisely because for a moment I closed my eyes and that moment was gone and all my dreams passed before my eyes, now I can do nothing but rethink about everything that's no longer there, to my friends whom I don't see anymore because now they have kids and a family, to me who's far from them and from the places that for so long were only "ours", to the time that passes and to us who are increasingly dust in the wind... thank you Kansas. All we are is dust in the wind.
P.S.
A few months ago, I met by chance one of the famous 6 in a pub, after not having seen each other for at least 4 years. Knowing about my skill with CDs and mp3s, he asked me for a commemorative CD of those moments... guess with which track it started... and his thank you SMS is one of the nicest I have ever received...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Miracles Out of Nowhere (06:46)
On a crystal morning I can see the dewdrops falling
Down from a gleaming heaven, I can hear the voices call
When you comin' home now, son, the World is not for you
Tell me what's you point of view
Hey there Mister Madman, wat'cha know that I don't know
Tell me some crazy stories, let me know who runs this show
Glassy-eyed and laughing, he turns and walks away
Tell me what made you that way
Here I am just waiting for a sign
Asking questions, learning all the time
It's always here, it's always there
It's just love, and miracles out of nowhere
Tell me now dear Mother, what's it like to be so old
Children grown and leavin', seems the world is growin' cold
And though your body's ailin' you, your mind is just like new
Tell me where you're goin' to
It's so simple right before your eyes
If you'll look through this disguise
It's always here, it's always there
It's just love and miracles out of nowhere
I sang this song a hundred, maybe a thousand years ago
No one ever listens, I just play and then I go
Off into the sunset like the western heroes do
Tell me what you're gonna do
Here I am, I'm sure to see a sign
All my life I knew that it was mine
It's always here, it's always there
It's just love and miracles out of nowhere
02 Paradox (04:10)
I'm on fire
Burning with the question in my mind
Strange desire
Seems there's nothing else for me to find
'Cause I've been here, and I've been there,
Seems like I've been everywhere before
I've seen it all a hundred times
Still I think there surely must be more
I've been livin', I had to take my time and change my style
Now I wonder is something gonna make it all worthwhile
I know there's more than meets the eye
Like to see it 'fore I die for sure.
Something tells me it's all right
Only one step farther to the door
There ain't no feelin', feels the same as findin' out the key
Now I'm reelin', thinking of the things that I might see
I'm not afraid to face the light
I'm not afraid to think that I might fall
I was going nowhere fast
I was needing something that would last
05 Dust in the Wind (04:24)
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
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
06 The Preacher (04:56)
Gather round the preacherman gather round here
If you're waiting for the word that'll make it all clear
When you look in the sky you can see what he sees
There's a fire in the Belt of Hercules
Well the man in the collar says come to the fold
Bible in his hand tassle of gold
Says heaven could be locked but he's got a set of keys
They fit the buckle in the belt of Hercules
We all gotta come to the light together
Put your dreams in your pocket boy
We all gotta come to the light together
Follow me
The preacherman's climbing up above a timberline
Bible in his hand praying for a sign
Says "I'm tired of the devil - I'm down on my knees!"
"I'll fight the battle for the belt of Hercules"
We all gotta come to the light together
Put your dreams in your pocket boy
We all gotta come to the light together
Follow me
07 Point of Know Return (05:03)
I heard the men saying something
The captains tell they pay you well
And they say they need sailing men to
Show the way, and leave today
Was it you that said, "How long, how long?"
They say the sea turns so dark that
You know it's time, you see the sign
They say the point demons guard is
An ocean grave, for all the brave,
Was it you that said, "How long, how long,
How long to the point of know return?"
Your father, he said he needs you
Your mother, she says she loves you
Your brothers, they echo your words:
"How far to the point of know return, to the point of know return"
"Oh Oh, how long, how long?"
Today I found a message floating
In the sea from you to me
It wrote that when you could see it
You cried with fear, the Point was near
Was it you that said, "How long, how long, how long
To the Point of Know Return?"
How Long? How Long to the point of no return?"
No Return
How Long?
(Repeat and Fade)
09 Carry On Wayward Son (06:20)
''Refrain:''
Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
Ahhhh....
Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond this 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 dreaming
I can hear them say
''Refrain:''
Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man, well
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
''Refrain:''
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
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry (don't you cry no more)
10 All I Wanted (04:53)
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
11 The Wall (05:43)
I'm woven in a fantasy, I can't believe the things I see
The path that I have chosen now has led me to a wall
And with each passing day I feel a little more like something dear was lost
It rises now before me, a dark and silent barrier between,
All I am, and all that I would ever want be
It's just a travesty, towering, marking off the boundaries my spirit would erase
To pass beyond is what I seek, I fear that I may be too weak
And those are few who've seen it through to glimpse the other side,
The promised land is waiting like a maiden that is soon to be a bride
The moment is a masterpiece, the weight of indecision's in the air
It's standing there, the symbol and the sum of all that's me
It's just a travesty, towering, blocking out the light and blinding me
I want to see
Gold and diamonds cast a spell, it's not for me I know it well
The riches that I seek are waiting on the other side
There's more that I can measure in the treasure of the love that I can find
And though it's always been with me, I must tear down the Wall and let it be
All I am, and all that I was ever meant to be, in harmony
Shining true and smiling back at all who wait to cross
There is no loss
12 Magnum Opus (02:11)
Instrumental:
a. Father Padilla Meets the Perfect Gnat
b. Howling at the Moon
c. Man Overboard
d. Industry on Parade
e. Release the Beavers
f. Gnat Attack
This foolish game, oh it's still the same
The notes go flyin' off in the air
And don't you believe it's true, the music is all for you
It's really all we've got to share
Cause Rockin' and Rollin', it's only howlin' at the Moon.
It's only howlin' at the Moon.
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