When I saw that this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme was “traveling,” my first reaction was to use Ricky Nelson’s “Traveling Man.” Unfortunately, another blogger beat me to it.
Back to the drawing board, I thought. But while I was walking my dog tonight, a song popped into my head. That song was Dion’s classic, “The Wanderer.”
The song, written by Ernie Maresca and recorded by Dion DiMucci, was released in 1961 on Laurie Records. It’s a song that tells the story of a travelling man and his many love interests.
Of course, by today’s standards, Dion’s song would undoubtedly and deservedly be considered sexist and misogynistic. But hey, what did we know about sexism and misogyny back then? I’m not sure such concepts had yet been invented in 1961.
Here are the lyrics.
Oh, well, I’m the type of guy who will never settle down
Where pretty girls are, well, you know that I’m around
I kiss ’em and I love ’em ’cause to me they’re all the same
I hug ’em and I squeeze ’em they don’t even know my name
They call me a wanderer
Yeah, a wanderer
I roam around, around, around, around
Oh, well, there’s Flo on my left and there’s Mary on my right
And Janie is the girl, well, that I’ll be with tonight
And when she asks me, which one I love the best?
I tear open my shirt and I show “Rosie” on my chest
‘Cause I’m a wanderer
Yeah, a wanderer
I roam around, around, around, around
Oh, well, I roam from town to town
I go through life without a care
And I’m as happy as a clown
I with my two fists of iron and I’m going nowhere
I’m the type of guy that likes to roam around
I’m never in one place, I roam from town to town
And when I find myself fallin’ for some girl
Yeah, I hop right into that car of mine, I drive around the world
Yeah I’m a wanderer
Yeah, a wanderer
I roam around, around, around, around
Oh yeah, I’m the type of guy that likes to roam around
I’m never in one place, I roam from town to town
And when I find myself a-fallin’ for some girl
I hop right into that car of mine and drive around the world
Yeah, ’cause I’m a wanderer
Yeah, a wanderer
I roam around, around, around, around, around, around
‘Cause I’m a wanderer
Yeah, a wanderer
I roam around, around, around
‘Cause I’m a wanderer
Yeah, a wanderer
This, That, and the Other 
Nice song choice. Looks like Helen’s prompt is taking us all back to the 60’s!
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Those were the days, my friend.
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I can sing along with that one 🙂
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It’s a good song to sing along to, along with another Dion classic, “Runaround Sue.”
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I always hated Runaround Sue for some reason! lol
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Understandable Sue…I mean Suze. 😉
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Nice pick, it brought back many lovely memories.
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Glad you liked it.
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Also I went out with that Runaround Sue once.
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Did she runaround on you, too?
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It did not matter to me, as I knew that she was just a one night stand.
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I’ve actually heard this one before! Haha. It is undoubtedly sexist… “to me they’re all the same”… It’s still a catchy song. Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
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It sure is fun listening to all these old songs for this challenge! Great one you chose for today! 🙂
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Oldies but definitely goodie. Thanks.
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