Rock and Roll

It might seem that the wanderer has lots of girls and lots of fun, but he realizes it doesn’t amount to much. The lyric says: “I roam from town to town / I go through life without a care / I wave my two fists of iron / but I’m goin’ nowhere.” The song was written by Ernie Maresca (“Runaround Sue”) and recorded by Dion. Dion had broken up with The Belmonts by this point, and The Del-Satins provided background vocals. In 1962, the song went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 in Australia, and #10 in the U.K.. Rolling Stone Magazine has the song on its list of The 500 Greatest Song of All Time. “The Wanderer” has been widely covered, including versions by Bruce Springsteen, The Beach Boys, Eddie Rabbitt, and Status Quo.

Ernie Maresca was from the Bronx, as were Dion and The Belmonts. Maresca had been writing and singing with a group called The Monterays, who later became The Desires. After Maresca left the group, they were known as The Regents and had a hit with “Barbara Ann.” Maresca also had songwriter hits for Leif Garrett, The Regents, Status Quo, and Eddie Rabbitt, among others. In 1961, Maresca wrote a hit for himself titled “Should! Shout!(Knock Yourself Out).”

Here are the lyrics to “The Wanderer” by Dion:

“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 the wanderer
Yeah, the wanderer
I roam 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 I got Rosie on my chest

‘Cause I’m the wanderer
Yeah, the wanderer
I roam 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 but 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 and ride around the world

Yeah I’m the wanderer
Yeah, the wanderer
I roam 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

‘Cause I’m a wanderer
Yeah, a wanderer
I roam around, around, around”

If you are interested in reading about and listening to other songs by Dion, please click here for “Runaround Sue” and “Runaway Girl.”

For More Golden Oldies Music                

The Daily Doo Wop Rec Room has daily featured doo wop, rock and roll, R&B, or rockabilly songs that were hits during the first era of rock and roll (that is, from about 1952 until the British invasion in 1964). After a song is featured, it then goes into the juke box. You are welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections there. Every weekend, there is a Golden Oldies Juke Box Saturday Night, and the juke box is full of song requests from the 1950s and 1960s.

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