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The Wayfaring Stranger (song)

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"The Wayfaring Stranger" (aka "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" or "I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger"), Roud 3339, is a well-known spiritual/folk song about a plaintive soul on the journey through life. The journey the singer speaks of is the trials and tribulations of life. Home is the final reward of reuniting with loved ones in Heaven in the afterlife.[1] It became one of Burl Ives's signature songs, included on his 1944 album The Wayfaring Stranger. Ives used it as the title of his early 1940s CBS radio show and his 1948 autobiography. He became known as "The Wayfaring Stranger."

Commentary

"Poor Wayfaring Stranger" is a traditional folk song of unknown origin. There are many and varied opinions as to its origin. Some of the proposed origins are Appalachian folk, old Irish folk, and Catskills folk. One theory is that it originates from the Negro Spirituals and there was a deliberate concealment of the song's origins. Clearly the song is of a spiritual nature as the Wayfaring Stranger sings of the hardships of his temporal life passing by and refers to his journeying on to a better place. This song has been recorded countless times.

The New Christy Minstrels recorded their song: The Ballad of Julie Ann to this tune.

Use in Classical Music

Erno Dohnanyi used the tune (and also two other traditional American folktunes) in his final composition American Rhapsody (1953).

Lyrics

I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger
Traveling through, this world of woe.
There's no sickness, toil nor danger
That bright land, to which I go.
I'm going there to see my mother
I'm going there no more to roam;
I'm only go-ing over Jordan
I'm only go-ing over home.

I know dark clouds will gather round me
I know my way is rough and steep;
But beautiful fields lie just beyond me
Where souls redeemed, their vigils keep
I'm going there to see my father
I'm going there no more to roam;
I'm only go-ing over Jordan
I'm only go-ing over home.

I wanna wear a crown of glory
When I get home to... I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger
I'm just go-ing over home.


Notable recordings

See also

References

  1. ^ Digital Tradition Folk Music Database: link

Further reading

Preceded by RPM Country Tracks
number-one single (Emmylou Harris version)
August 23, 1980 		Succeeded by
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