Song of the Week 05: The Wayfaring Stranger

"The Wayfaring Stranger" is a well-known American folk and gospel song likely originating in the early 1800’s about a plaintive soul on the journey through life. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it in 2009 as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

Atlanta music publisher Charles Davis Tillman was responsible for publicizing the lyrics, derived from the publications Bever's Christian Songster (1858) together with two additional stanzas from Taylor's Revival Hymns & Plantation Melodies (1882), and popularizing them in combination with the minor key tune derived from various African-American and Appalachian melodies. The result is so hauntingly striking and memorable that the tune and words have been widely recognized since Tillman published it in his Revival songbook (1891).

The Wayfaring Stranger is featured on A Little Farther West’s gospel album, “God Must Be A Cowboy.” We listened to a number of renditions, notably by Burl Ives, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, and the Quebe Sisters, to fashion our version.