Kansas - "Carry On My Wayward Son"

My sisters and I know this as one of the "boat songs." When we were younger, my dad bought a pontoon boat for the purpose of going and spending some time out at Green River or Kentucky Lake. And he had a mixed tape of songs that he loved, and he'd play them while we were on the boat. And so these songs remind us of going out on the boat, with the scent of muddy water in our noses, the sun and spray on our skins, and Daddy smiling and having a good time.

There weren't a lot of smiling good times in my house when Daddy was home.

Dad was an alcoholic, and was an abusive one like his father and grandfather before him. It wasn't a good environment, and for years I've wondered why Mom didn't just divorce him and let us all move on with our lives.

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
I hope this gave my sisters hope; I know it helped me. "There'll be peace when you are done" is just such a restful message to me. You know? Struggle on, because one day it will be over and you can rest. Don't worry. Everything will be alright.

More than I hope it gave my sisters hope, I hope it helped my dad. My parents are still married--they toughed it out, even when I hoped they'd just throw in the towel. And I'm proud that my parents have stuck it out for over 30 years.

I'm angry at my parents for doing a lot of things wrong when I was a child.
But I don't resent my dad for taking us out on the boat, playing these songs until the swimming and the music put us to sleep, listening over and over until this song soothes me more than almost anything else in the world. I don't blame my dad for teaching me to love Nintendo games, or classic/Southern rock, or how to swing a baseball bat. I don't resent my mother for agreeing to buy the boat. And I love Daddy for this song, and the rest of the "boat songs".

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

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

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

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!
Carry on, you will always remember
Carry on, nothing equals the splendor
The center lights around your vanity
But surely heaven waits for you
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)