“Without Carry On Wayward Son we’d have to have waited around for Dust In The Wind – if we’d gotten that far,” he says.
In moments of self-doubt, Ehart tries to avoid wondering what might have befallen Kansas had Livgren not written his masterpiece – and which almost didn’t make it onto the Leftoverture album. “It’s inspirational for the fans, and for us too.” “When that a cappella vocal intro kicks in, there isn’t an audience in the world that doesn’t go crazy,” the drummer says of Carry On Wayward Son. We love laughing at ourselves.”Įven after all this time, Kansas without Livgren still enjoy playing their calling card live. Although we take our music seriously, we don’t mind a little fun being poked at us. “We look at everything when those types of requests come in. “To me, its inclusion isn’t in the least bit demeaning – it’s kind of an honour,” Ehart offers.
CARRY ON WAYWARD SON LYRICS PNGS TV
It was the second most-played track on US classic rock radio in 1995, topping the same chart in 1997, and at the last count, having appeared in TV comedy shows and films that include South Park and Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, has logged up more than two million downloads during the digital era. He received a standing ovation when he joined Kansas on stage almost a year and a half later.įour decades on, Carry On Wayward Son has become more even famous than the band that recorded it, its meaning almost lost to ubiquity. In 2009 he suffered a stroke, but has since recovered sufficiently to work on various projects. Livgren, who had been in and out of the group since its formation, and with them through good times and bad, left Kansas, seemingly for good, after writing, producing and appearing on their 2000 album Somewhere To Elsewhere. Let me get mine.’ Money changes everything.” Certain people also started saying: ‘I don’t wanna work as hard or travel as much.’ I’d say: ‘That’s because you’ve got yours. “When the writers suddenly receive very large cheques indeed, it breeds some animosity,” guitarist Rich Williams later admitted. Steve Walsh, his writer’s block now unblocked, contributed massively to their next album, Point Of Know Return, which actually peaked a place higher than its predecessor, although it was Livgren who wrote the track on the album that gave the band a hit single, Dust In The Wind.īehind the scenes, though, jealousy between some band members was growing. As is fairly commonplace, however, the apparent good fortune of a hit song eventually exerted a negative effect on the band. Living up to the band’s early enthusiasm for the song, Carry On Wayward Son peaked at No.11 in the US, helping to propel parent album Leftoverture to No.5 in the Billboard Hot 100.
I was telling myself to keep on looking and I would find what I sought.”
“Parallel to my musical career I’ve always been on a spiritual sojourn, looking for truth and meaning. “It’s an autobiographical song,” he explains. In keeping with the group’s strong religious beliefs, the guitarist still suspects that a helping hand from above may have played a part in the song's meaning. “From that day on, wherever we were we turned on the radio and heard ourselves,” Livgren laughs. Beginning with an irresistible a cappella chorus and built on a stirring guitar motif, with Robby Steinhardt’s dancing violin of for once taking a back-seat role, Livgren’s last-minute song, Carry On Wayward Son, was a marriage of complexity and melody that gave the group the answer to their prayers, in more ways than one.
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