Wayfaring Stranger Lecture

Wayfaring Stranger is a song that has been performed by hundreds of artists in the 150 years of its known existence in American repertoire. The first written example of this song was published in 1858 by Joseph Bever’s Christian Songster. This was a publication of popular hymns and spiritual songs. However, the composer is either contested or unknown.1 

There is controversy over origins of the song that lead us down three different pathways. It could have come from a German composer, Issac Niswander’s song, “Ich bin ja nur ein Gast auf Erden”. The lyrics are really close (written in 1816) and the tune has a similar melody. I encourage everyone to go home and google this song. It’s very beautiful.2 You can also find a translation of the german text online, in english its called , “A guest on earth I wander”3 

However, some people think that it is a spiritual because it has similar themes to other African American spirituals, also known as “Sorrow Songs”. According to fredsforehead.com the song was mentioned by W.E.B Dubois in his book about Sorrow Songs. However, that could not be corroborated. He does analyze the song to be dual meaning like many Black spirituals. For example, “ great land'' could be in the North, or heaven. Other spirituals also mention “Going over Jordan” to get to that great land.4 Supporting this theory is the fact that it was written in Joseph Bever’s Christian Songster of popular hymns and spirituals in 1858. 

Another popular origin story is that it came from Libby Prison. People called it the Libby prison hymn because the lyrics were in a book from the Civil War (era - 1862).5 This is the version known and widely used today. The Libby Prison was a confederate prison during the American Civil War which held prisoners that were officers.Apparently it was known for extremely harsh living conditions.6 They were kept in rooms that were open to the weather and many died from illness and malnutrition. 

I imagine that it is probable that slaves learned the german tune and quickly made their own lyrics, and sang it in Christian churches. The song then passed through word of mouth to those who joined the Union during the Civil War and it became the Libby Prison Hymn. Today it has been kept alive through American Folk styles and has truly made its mark on our culture. 

As previously mentioned the song could very well have dual meaning. It is both a call to go to heaven and a call to run north to freedom from slavery and/or the Civil War. With this in mind one could guess how it speaks to anyone going through great hardships such as poverty, chronic illness, war, etc.. all who sing it have hope for finding greatness on the other side. Knock on wood, I don’t currently have quite these hardships but I aim to pull from that deep connected universal well of struggle to do the song justice. 

The song has been arranged many different ways by a variety of artists. Mostly but not only, these are derived from folk origins. The exact chord progression, key, and instrumentation vary. Johnny Cash famously used an old time country style, including accordion. Bill Monroe played it Bluegrass style with high and lonesome shout singing, vocal harmonies, and his iconic mandolin playing. Neil Young added a youth chorus and rockabilly drums to his version. More recently the song has been recorded acapella for the first world war film, 1917, sung by British vocalist Jos Slovick. 

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wayfaring_Stranger_(song) 

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeGm6e3Npuo 

3. https://www.lutheranchoralebook.com/texts/a-guest-on-earth-i-wander/

Wayfaring Stranger Lecture Lisa Marie Garver 

4. https://fredsforehead.com/2022/01/24/a-reflection-on-a-poor-wayfaring-stranger-and-the story-it-tells/ 

5. https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:278571/ 

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libby_Prison