Happy Wanderer

“The Happy Wanderer” (“Der fröhliche Wanderer” or “Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann“) is a popular 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, internationally 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 entered the UK singles chart, and would stay on the chart – only a Top 12 at the time – for 26 non-consecutive weeks. 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 song’s original German lyrics have been translated into 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. (wikipedia)

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Words & Music by Antonio Ridge & Friedrich Moller
Recorded by Frank Weir, 1954 (#4)

   A                                         E7
I love to go a-wandering along the mountain track,

    E7          D        Bm     D        E7     A
And as I go, I love to sing, my knapsack on my back.

Refrain:

       E7          A
Val-da-ree, val-da-rah,

       E7           A     D     A     D
Val-da-ree, val-da-rah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

       E7           A
Val-da-ree, val-da-rah,

    D       E7     A
My knapsack on my back.

I love to wander by the stream that dances in the sun;
So joyously it calls to me, 霤ome, join my happy song!?
Refrain:
Val-da-ree, val-da-rah,
Val-da-ree, val-da-rah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Val-da-ree, val-da-rah, 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.

Refrain:
Val-da-ree, val-da-rah,
Val-da-ree, val-da-rah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Val-da-ree, val-da-rah, from ev'ry green wood 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,.

Refrain:
Val-da-ree, val-da-rah,
Val-da-ree, val-da-rah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Val-da-ree, val-da-rah, beneath God's clear blue sky.

Tags: 1940s, 1950s, choir, Friedrich-Wilhelm Möller, pop

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