Discover

:''For the episode of The Sopranos, see The Happy Wanderer (The Sopranos episode).

"'The Happy Wanderer'" ("'Der fröhliche Wanderer'" or "'Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann'") is a popular song song by Friedrich-Wilhelm Möller written shortly after World War II. It is often mistaken for a German folk song, but it is actually an original composition. His sister Edith Möller conducted a small amateur children's and youth choir in Schaumburg County, Northern Germany, international named Obernkirchen Children's Choir, in Germany named Schaumburger Märchensänger.
In 1953, BBC Radio aired the choir's winning performance at Llangollen International Eisteddfod, an annual arts festival in north-east Wales. The broadcast turned the cheerful encore into an instant hit. On January 22, 1954, the song took the #2 spot of the UK single charts, where it remained for 23 weeks in a row, then spent 3 more weeks on #8. With BBC Radio's strong international influence, "The Happy Wanderer" suddenly turned up everywhere, e.g. as the winning song of the 1955 calypso road march season of the Trinidad Carnival (prompting protest that from now on, only calypsoes should be chosen over foreign music).
The amateur choir, many of whose original members were war orphans, turned into an unlikely international phenomenon in the following years. The group performed on countless international tours under the name Obernkirchen Children's Choir, with performances on TV shows such as ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' (November 29, 1964, and December 11, 1966). The choir was also featured in a 1955 German musical movie named after the song.
The song's original German lyrics have been translated to several languages, and it has since become a choir classic. The English lyrics were written by Antonia Ridge. Milton DeLugg wrote a famous arrangement, and is sometimes falsely credited as the composer of the song.
When the Montreal Expos baseball team played in Olympic Stadium, "The Happy Wanderer" was played to celebrate offensive explosions, with the fans joining in on the chorus.
"The Happy Wanderer" is also commonly found in Cuckoo Clocks with musical movements.

Contents

External links

External links

★ Chart Of All Time - 1954 UK Chart History of 1954

★ IMDB Movie: "Der fröhliche Wanderer"

★ Llangollen History of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod

★ Trinidad and Tobago National Library Carnival Story - The Negative List

★ Obernkirchen Children's Choir - German Homepage also with English Texts
'Song Lyrics'
I love to go a-wandering,
Along the mountain track,
And as I go, I love to sing,
My knapsack on my back.
Chorus:
Val-deri,Val-dera,
Val-deri,
Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Val-deri,Val-dera.
My knapsack on my back.
I love to wander by the stream
That dances in the sun,
So joyously it calls to me,
"Come! Join my happy song!"
(Chorus concludes with 'Come! Join my happy song.')
I wave my hat to all I meet,
And they wave back to me,
And blackbirds call so loud and sweet
From ev'ry green wood tree.
(Chorus concludes with 'From ev're green wood tree.')
High overhead, the skylarks wing,
They never rest at home
But just like me, they love to sing,
As o'er the world we roam.
(Chorus concludes with 'As o'er the world we roam.')
Oh, may I go a-wandering
Until the day I die!
Oh, may I always laugh and sing,
Beneath God's clear blue sky!
(Chorus concludes with 'Beneath God's clear blue sky!')