Soldier Of Fortune

The speaker looks back on a life spent moving from place to place, hoping that one day someone will ask him to stay. He imagines love as a reason to give up wandering, but as he grows older, that hope seems less certain. The repeated conclusion suggests resignation: he may remain a traveler, even though he longs for closeness.

The “soldier of fortune” is a metaphor for someone who lives by chance and keeps moving on, like a hired soldier seeking opportunity. His songs “echo in the distance,” suggesting that earlier experiences and hopes are fading into memory. The windmill’s steady turning may evoke a life that continues in circles: time passes, but the speaker does not seem to reach the settled life he wants.

There is some uncertainty about whether the speaker has truly met the person he longs for. He says he sometimes thought he saw them nearby, then recognizes that they were not there; this could suggest loneliness, wishful thinking, or simply a mistaken impression. His final acceptance that he will “always” wander sounds firm, but the song’s repeated return to love and companionship leaves open the possibility that this is not what he truly wants.