I woke up the other morning thinking of wandering 61 and quickly remembered a favorite tune from my youth, “The Happy Wanderer.” On Frank Weir’s version, there was a compelling soprano saxophone part I still can hum (in a lower register). I thought, maybe we have a theme song for the Superior Hiking Trail, or the Arrowhead, or Cook County. The song already became the unofficial anthem of Major League Baseball’s Montreal Expos (since relocated to become today’s Washington Nationals). Here are the circa1800 lyrics of the post WWII melody:
I love to go a-wandering Along the mountain track And as I go, I love to sing My knapsack on my back
Val-eri, val-dera
Val-eri, val-dera
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
Ha
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
Val-deri, val-dera
Val-deri, val-dera…
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 greenwood tree
Val-eri, val-dera
Val-eri, val-dera…
From ev’ry greenwood tree
Oh, may I go a-wandering
Until the day I die
Oh, may I always laugh
and sing
Beneath God’s clear blue
sky
Val-eri, val-dera
Val-eri, val-dera
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
Ha
val-dera
Beneath the clear blue sky
Beneath the clear blue sky
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Antonia
Ridge / Friedrich Wilhelm
Moeller
If you want to hear it sung by multiple artists, try You Tube. For the version that swept UK record ratings, try The Obernkirchen Children’s Choir. In 1953, a BBC radio broadcast of the choir’s winning performance at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod turned the song into an instant hit. The amateur choir, many of whose original members were war orphans, turned into an international phenomenon in the following years. Anachronistically, Steven Spielberg’s 1993 historical drama film, Schindler’s List, contains a scene in which a group is singing the tune in a nightclub during that war. An episode of The Sopranos contains the tune.
Other singers you can hear on YouTube include The King Singers, The Stargazers, Christina Aguilara, Bill Staines, John Loudermilk, DION, Frankie Yankovic, Mickey Mouse for a Disney singalong, the Singing Nuns, and the Chardon Polka Band. From the Camping Family website we learn:
The words to “Mary Had A Little Lamb” fit this tune perfectly.
An episode of “The Muppet Show” features this song. It stars three hiking pigs!
Barney, the purple dinosaur, recorded this song and substituted “Barneri” for “Valderi”.
There is a musical version of the “23rd Psalm” that uses this tune. It begins “The Lord’s my shepherd, I’ll not want, He makes me down to lie/In pastures green He leadeth me the quiet waters by.”
Now, aren’t we glad we woke up early today? Surely we need a theme song to help our wandering and Wondering 61. WTIP, visitors’ bureaus, and Superior Hiking Trail Association take note. This could be the signature accomplishment of the new Association Director’s first year if Visit Cook County doesn’t beat him to it.
Steve Aldrich is a retired Hennepin County lawyer, mediator, and Judge, serving from 1997-2010. He and his wife moved here in 2016. He likes to remember that he was a Minnesota Super Lawyer before being elected to the bench. Now he is among the most vulnerable to viruses. Steve really enjoys doing weddings, the one thing a retired judge can do without appointment by the Chief Justice. He has never officiated at a Skype, Zoom or Google Team wedding.
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