Kerry Livgren, a Kansas guitarist, composed this after reading a book of Native American poetry. "For all we are is dust in the wind," the statement attracted his attention. This started him wondering about the actual worth of material possessions and the definition of success. The song has a progressive rock sound with strong guitar work from Livgren. Livgren wrote the song as an answer to himself if he ever met his future self. The story behind the song involves a young man who travels back in time to meet his older self and ask for advice. When his younger self asks why he should help him, the older version replies: "Because you can choose your own path, but you'll never know what may happen if you don't take the chance." The lyrics discuss how people are nothing but particles in the air which eventually becomes dust. This belief is shown in the line "We're all just dust in the wind". This also implies that no one really knows what will happen next in their life so they should not worry about anything because it probably won't matter in the end. Some people claim that the word "dust" in the song is a metaphor for karma but this cannot be confirmed without looking at other translations of the poem. Although this song was written by a musician, many scientists agree that this song reflects an accurate understanding of physics.