Carry On Wayward Son Kansas

"Carry On Wayward Son" Album: Leftoverture (1976)
by Kansas

This was written by Kansas guitarist Kerry Livgren. According to Livgren, the song was not written to express anything specifically religious, though it certainly expresses spiritual searching and other ideas.

Livgren became an evangelical Christian in 1980, and has said that his songwriting to that point was all about "searching." Regarding this song, he explained: "I felt a profound urge to 'Carry On' and continue the search. I saw myself as the 'Wayward Son,' alienated from the ultimate reality, and yet striving to know it or him. The positive note at the end ('surely heaven waits for you') seemed strange and premature, but I felt impelled to include it in the lyrics. It proved to be prophetic."
This song can be seen as the continuation of the last song of Kansas' previous album Masque. As stated in the last verse of "The Pinnacle":

I stood where no man goes
Above the din I rose
Life is amusing though we are losing
Drowned in tears of awe

By definition in the Cambridge dictionary, "din" is a loud, unpleasant, confused noise which lasts for a long time. The first line of "Carry On Wayward Son" is: "Once I rose above the noise and confusion."

This was the group's first major hit, and like their next one, "Dust In The Wind," it was a last minute addition to the album. Kerry Livgren wrote the song just two days before they started recording Leftoverture. At that point, the band was polishing the songs they had, not bringing in new ones. "I've got one more song that you might want to hear," he told the band, and when he played "Carry On," they knew it was a hit and made it the lead track on the album.

The a cappella vocals in the beginning of this song gave it a very distinctive intro. This worked well on rock radio stations where disc jockeys rarely talked over the music.
This song has appeared in several movies, including Heroes (1977), Happy Gilmore (1996) and Anchorman - The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004).

The Oak Ridge Boys recorded this for the 2002 compilation album When Pigs Fly: Songs You Never Thought You'd Hear. Cevin Soling, who put the compilation together, said: "The Oak Ridge Boys, I wanted them to do Nine Inch Nails' 'Closer,' and I had this wonderful arrangement worked out... this very 'Elvira' country version of Nine Inch Nails' 'Closer,' with all the doo-wops and poppa oom maus and everything. I could not wait to get them in the studio to work on that. I had alternate lyrics, you know, but they were still uncomfortable with doing that. So that kind of went back and forth and somehow 'Wayward Son' got thrown out there. I don't remember exactly who picked that one, but generally I'd give the artist a few choices and they sort of pick among them."

This song is featured in the South Park episode "Guitar Queer-O." In the episode, Stan and Kyle become obsessed with the video game Guitar Hero and often play to "Carry On Wayward Son." The song is played throughout the episode.

The album Leftoverture not only propelled Kansas to international stardom, it also saved the band for the time being. Kansas' previous record, Masque, was a commercial failure, and the progressive style of the band and their songs hindered their ability to get serious radio play. While he personally enjoyed the band, producer Don Kirshner gave Kansas one last chance: produce a hit record, or be dropped by the label. Overwhelmed and distressed with the predicament, the band returned to their hometown of Topeka, Kansas, to relax and begin writing for the next album.

Lead singer and keyboard player, Steve Walsh, began suffering from writer's block which hindered his songwriting contributions, and so it was left up to lead guitar player and lyricist, Kerry Livgren, to generate song ideas and lyrics. Sitting at his parent's home, in front of the family organ, Livgren composed the music for what would become "Carry On Wayward Son." In late 2011, Livgren stated in a short interview at his home that the lyrics were partially about himself and the struggles and pressures he was facing at the time when the band's career was on the line. The piano interlude and accompanying verse express how happy the band's success had made him, as well as how sad and fearful he was that it might possibly be over ("I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high"). However, the chorus expresses hope that everything will work out and that he must simply keep going. ("Carry on, my wayward son. There'll be peace when you are done").

In reality, the song was almost not included on the album, and thus contributes to the album's title of Leftoverture. The album title comes from the idea that many of the songs are leftover songs from the band's past. For instance, the string part at the end of the second track, "The Wall", was an old song idea that was added on to the end of the song for the record. The album, while met with mixed reviews by critics, was commercially successful, going platinum five times. "Carry On" became the bands' first Top 40 hit (peaking at #11), and is often regarded as one of the greatest rock songs of all time. It gave Kansas the staying power it needed to keep producing records with Kirshner, and earned Kerry Livgren the reputation as one of the most respected musicians and lyricists in rock and roll.

This was used on The Office in the season 3 episode "Cocktails." It plays as Roy and his brother trash a bar after Roy learns of Pam and Jim's kiss.
This is considered the unofficial theme song of the CW series Supernatural, and is featured in all 15 seasons of the show as the anthem of the Winchester brothers. In 2017, the band played a surprise gig at Comic-Con San Diego and sang the tune for the 7,200 Supernatural fans in attendance.

Steve Walsh – lead vocals, keyboards, organ
Robby Steinhardt – backing vocals
Kerry Livgren – guitar, piano
Rich Williams – acoustic and electric guitar
Dave Hope – bass
Phil Ehart – drums