Soldier of Fortune

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a poignant picture of a restless soul, a "drifter" who has spent a lifetime on the move. There's a deep, unfulfilled longing for connection, a dream of settling down. Yet, a sense of inevitable solitude hangs heavy over the narrator's reflections. This central tension arises from the narrator's past life of telling stories and waiting for the day to "take your hand," envisioning an invitation to "love me" and finally stay. This imagined domesticity stands in stark contrast to the reality of a life spent as a "traveller," always searching for "something new" and wandering "without you." The chorus powerfully shifts to the present, where the narrator is "growing older." The "songs that I have sung" now "echo in the distance," a poignant image of past efforts fading into obscurity. This fading past is then linked to "the sound of a windmill going around," suggesting a repetitive, perhaps monotonous cycle of existence that ultimately leads back to the same solitary identity: "I guess I'll always be a soldier of fortune." The lyrics resonate by capturing the bittersweet acceptance of a chosen, or perhaps fated, path. The brief, almost hallucinatory moment in verse two, where "blindness is confusing" and "you're not here," underscores the profound absence at the heart of the wanderer's life. It's a raw realization that despite all the travels and stories, the desired connection remains just out of reach, solidifying the "soldier of fortune" identity as a permanent state.