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
Nothin' 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


Lyrics submitted by Novartza

Dust in the Wind Lyrics as written by Kerry Livgren

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Unison Rights S.L.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Dust In The Wind song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

95 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +13
    General Comment

    Me and my dad were sitting in a lounge and he told me he wanted this song played at his memorial. A month or two later he died suddenly. It will always be one of my favourite songs.

    cecelia1979on August 05, 2005   Link
  • +10
    General Comment

    We are rather insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe. Our lives are short and fragile. We are as dust that can be swirled off the earth.

    stringofpearlson February 19, 2002   Link
  • +10
    General Comment

    I believe it is about a man learning his has little time left to live, and hes summing up life by the things he is feling and seeing at that fleeting moment - as he realizes he dying.

    as he lies there in thought,fights the urge to sleep - he dozes off dreams

    awakes to a song he knows only so well, and realizes it all has very little meaning.....

    just4davidon December 08, 2011   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    It’s relaxing and realistic My new fav <3 Still on 2020

    Siahara Shyne Carteron May 16, 2020   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    One of my favorite songs...Kerry Livgren wrote this song a couple years before his conversion to Christianity. I love the resemblance to the book of Ecclesiastes "Everything is meaningless! A chasing after the wind."

    danlo51on October 31, 2006   Link
  • +2
    Memory

    This is my favorite song in my entire life. Heard it since the 1970's. Regardless of what is happening in my life this song grounds me... Nothing anyone does can be taken into the next life... We come from dust and return to dust... Blessings..

    nothinnewon June 03, 2015   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song means a lot to me cause the person I love told me about it. It really makes me worry cause as the song says: dust in the wind, may be of our relationship, and this is the last thing I would want in my life.

    ThronlessRoseon May 17, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I love this song it reminds me what we are

    vfobushon May 25, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    " 'I'm significant!"...screamed the dust speck." (Calvin and Hobbes)

    pixiedust133on May 31, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song is truly beautiful, the lyrics and the singer's voice are a perfect match.. it's amazing!

    atarisemokidon June 14, 2002   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve. The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future. Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere" The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head &gt; Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Album art
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it. “I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.