Existential analysis — Kansas — Carry on wayward son
Yesterday I told you to spend some time with Art. Today I have analysed the lyrics of a musical masterpiece. It´s called “Carry on my wayward son” and is from Kansas from the 1977 album Leftoverture.
First of all you should listen to the song here
And here are the complete lyrics:
Ref.: 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
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
Ref.
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
Ref.
No!
…
Carry on, you will always remember
Carry on, none can equal the splendor
Now your life’s no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you
Ref.
Once I rose above the noise and confusion: freeing oneself from the loop of inauthenticity, Noise = chatter, tv, news, which leads to confusion and to nothing good
Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion: after freeing himself from the loop of inauthenticity, the protagonist sees the absurdity of everything.
I was soaring ever higher: The protagonist enjoys the absurdity more and more
But I flew too high: He gets back grounded by a society who doesn´t want people to follow their own dreams
Though my eyes could see, I still was a blind man: He sees the absurdity and authenticity of everything but he doesn´t have a clear course what he wants to do.
Though my mind could think, I still was a mad man: He knows about these things, but he couldn´t apply them.
Masquerading as a man with a reason, My charade is the event of the season: The protagonist who sees himself still as a madman masquerades himself with a reason, so he gets reintegrated back into society.
And if I claim to be a wise man, well It surely means that I don’t know: The protagonist understands that wisdom doesn´t mean knowing everything but mean to be curious and knowing what we don´t know. Being wise means to ask the right questions.
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: The protagonist accepts now the absurd and decides to live authentic so he drives triumphant above the others who are just dragged around by life. He lives in the moment has found a purpose for himself and takes his course onto his goal
Now your life’s no longer empty Surely heaven waits for you: Now that the protagonist has a purpose in life, it´s not empty but rich and full.
I will do more existential analyses in the future, if you want to have a certain song, please respond with the name of the song.
