I Wonder as I Wander facts for kids

Quick facts for kids I Wonder as I Wander
John Jacob Niles
Genre	Christmas
Language	English

"I Wonder as I Wander" is a famous Christian folk song. It is often sung as a Christmas carol. An American folklorist and singer named John Jacob Niles wrote it. The song began from a small piece of a tune Niles heard in 1933.

How the Song Began

John Jacob Niles was in a town called Murphy. This town is in the Appalachian part of North Carolina. He went to a meeting held by some evangelists. These were people who shared religious messages. The police had told them to leave town.

Niles wrote about what he heard there. A young girl stepped onto a small platform. She started to sing. Her clothes were very dirty and torn. She also looked unwashed. Her light-colored hair hung down in long strands. But she was beautiful. She could sing in her own natural way. She smiled sadly as she sang. She sang only one line of a song.

The girl's name was Annie Morgan. She sang the short piece of the song seven times. Niles paid her a quarter for each time she sang. He left with "three lines of verse." He also had a small part of the melody. He felt he had a great idea.

Niles then created the version of "I Wonder as I Wander" we know today. He made the melody longer, adding four lines. He also wrote three stanzas of lyrics. He finished writing the song on October 4, 1933. Niles first sang the song on December 19, 1933. This was at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina. The song was first printed in a book called Songs of the Hill Folk in 1934.

Niles called his process "folk composition." This meant he took an old folk idea and made it into a new song. Because of this, some people thought the song was very old. They believed no one knew who wrote it. But Niles wanted everyone to know he wrote it.

Different Ways to Hear the Song

The song "I Wonder as I Wander" has always been sung with the same melody. This is the tune that John Jacob Niles published. A writer named Ian Bradley described the melody. He said it is "clean" and "haunting." It makes you think of being outdoors. It also gives a feeling of gentle wandering.

Many musicians have created their own versions of the song. These are called "arrangements." An arrangement is when a composer changes a song. They might change it for different instruments or voices.

• Benjamin Britten made an arrangement for singers. It was published in 1934.
• Barbra Streisand included it on her 1967 album, A Christmas Album.
• Luciano Berio arranged it for a soprano singer and other instruments. This was part of his Folk Songs in 1964. He wrote it for singer Cathy Berberian.
• A Swiss composer named Carl Rütti created a new melody for the song. His version has been performed. It was sung at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. This event takes place at King's College Chapel in the University of Cambridge.
• The Westminster Choir College performs an arrangement by Steve Pilkington. They sing it every year at their Readings and Carols concert.
• Vanessa Williams recorded a version. It was on her Christmas album Star Bright.
• Joe Weed arranged the song for his 1994 album Prairie Christmas.
• The band Wovenhand made an experimental version. It was for a Christmas music collection.
• Joshua Messick, who plays the hammered dulcimer, has a version. It is on his 2018 album Hammered Dulcimer Christmas Vol. II.
• The band iamthemorning performs a version arranged by John Rutter. It is on their 2020 EP, Counting The Ghosts.