Eres como el viento, el viento que me lleva, volando por ahi, volando por donde quiera... No hay nadie como tu.

(You are like the wind, the wind that takes me flying around, flying wherever it wants... There is nobody like you.)

In one of the most beautiful letters ever written, Sullivan Ballou wrote his wife before he died in the Civil War, saying, “when the soft breeze fans your cheek, it shall be my breath… my spirit passing by." Since ancient times, we’ve associated the wind, that mysterious and unpredictable force, with the breath of life, carrying our spirits aloft, sometimes gently, sometimes destructively—sometimes deliciously, as in this song. Even today, we can’t accurately predict it, and we don’t know why it picks up certain things while leaving others behind. The wind gives and takes away. There’s nothing like it.

This post is part of Music 100, a love letter to songs. 100 words on 100 songs in 100 days, running from Groundhog Day to May 31, 2025.

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