Friday, June 22, 2007

Dust in the Wind

The other day my wife was watching a program on VH1 concerning someone's compilation of the 100 most popular rock ballads. Somewhere in the top ten -- I don't remember where as I wasn't paying close attention -- was the song Dust in the Wind by the group Kansas.

Commentator after commentator talked about how this particular song was sad and melancholy. One fellow made it sound like he felt like crying every time he heard the song.

Personally, I've always found it to be a beautiful song! If Taoists had anthems, I'm sure this would be one of them.

I suppose how one views the song is tied up in a person's view of dust. If you think of dust as unimportant specks of debris that get in your eyes and tends to make everything dirty, then I can certainly understand how you might interpret a song of this nature as being a bit of a downer.

In your mind's eye, the lyricist is telling you that you are as unimportant as dust.

On the other hand, if you view dust as being as important as any other thing in this life, then dust in the wind is sheer poetry. The message of the lyric is that, no matter how large or small a thing is, it is all part of the one reality, the Tao.
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

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