The Spiritual Meaning of Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas

Likened by many listeners to the Parable of the Prodigal Son, this song was simply expressing songwriter Kerry Livgren's experience of spirituality—which turned out to mirror the meaning of that parable. His understanding of the parable was poor to non-existent at the time of the song’s writing.

Let’s tease out the song’s spiritual meaning by going through the lyrics, skipping the first chorus:

“Once I rose above the noise and confusion

Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion”

Kerry recalls a spontaneous spiritual experience he had in which a powerful clarity dawned, lifting him to a reality he did not suspect existed, above the miasma of confusion and senseless “noise” he had no idea he was so thoroughly steeped in. So stark was the contrast between these two ways of seeing that the prior way could only be called an “illusion”.

“I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high.”

As spiritual experiences often do, his state kept building upon itself. The more clarity he had, the more clarity he would yet gain in a virtuous cycle lifting him to seemingly limitless heights like a tornado on the Kansas plain.

“Though my eyes could see, I still was a blind man

Though my mind could think, I still was a madman”

His perception was imbued with the glow of truth, his thoughts were like raindrops of divine wisdom. With the humility of a simple man he was unraveling the secrets of existence in a constant stream of revelations—though he was not yet fully purified. 

As A Course In Miracles says, “Innocence is not a partial attribute. It is not real until it is total. The partly innocent are apt to be quite foolish at times.” With his ascending energy and mounting inner power, this yet unpurified part of him now explosively expressed itself, ripping apart the spiritual experience and leaving him once again in the desolate wasteland of delusion, yet all the more devastated now knowing he could never again mistake this pale illusion for his home.

“I hear the voices when I'm dreaming

I can hear them say

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”

In the night Kerry’s deeper wisdom would emerge, encouraging him that although he did not know the way back to the peace and exuberance he had tasted, nothing could change the truth that it was his eventual destiny to abide there. 

Like the prodigal son, he might well continue on many useless journeys, squandering his true inheritance of light, struggling for every little lesson that would eventually lead him home.

Yet one day, no matter how far off it was, he would be done. On that day, the shame of his spiritual youth would be forgotten, the trials of his journey no more personal than stories in a magazine. In this knowledge lies a kernel of peace that he could carry with him, providing courage and shortening his journey.

“Masquerading as a man with a reason

My charade is the event of the season”

Lost for an authentic way forward, Kerry desperately tries inventing an identity in the world that could replace his now glaring sense of lack of all that truly matters. He hopes to fool others into believing he actually has that valuable thing everyone is really searching for. His farce of a life is more unbearably pathetic to him than ever, but he doesn’t know how to stop.

“And if I claim to be a wise man, well

It surely means that I don't know”

A sneaky trick of his ego is to flash distorted bits of wisdom from his previously exalted state before others to prove the authenticity of his act. Here he admits that this behavior reeks of insecurity.

“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”

Dizzied by the confused forces within him, his ego takes hold of the ship and steers him in pursuit of outward achievement and success.

“But I hear the voices say

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 (No)”

A still small voice within urges him to mind his real journey, which is the inner journey toward truth.

“(Carry on) You will always remember

(Carry on) Nothing equals the splendor”

As lost as he may be, the spiritual experience he had was so different, so new, that it could never be forgotten. The world he sees simply cannot replace it.

“Now your life's no longer empty

Surely Heaven waits for you”

With time, the memory of the light which was revealed to him increasingly becomes his North Star. He has the beginnings of a true purpose, offering him something real—and he knows that it leads only one way, to his true home where he can be exuberant once again.

“Carry on, my wayward son

There'll be peace when you are done

Lay your weary head to rest

(Don't you cry) Don't you cry no more

No more”

Listen to Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas

(Kerry is guitarist in video with shoulder-length straight blonde hair and blonde mustache)