1962 Songs: The Wanderer

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Alphabetically speaking, this ends the 1962 list. My ten favorite songs from sixty years ago will start tomorrow to close out the month. Meanwhile, here’s another song….with a repeat songwriter so JJ can be mad. The Wanderer - Dion Shout! Shout! Knock yourself out, JJ. Yes, it’s Ernie Maresca coming back for another songwriting appearance. He was the singer on the song “Shout! Shout! (Knock Yourself Out)” earlier in the countdown. In that, I mentioned that he wrote a few Dion hits. (He even referenced “Runaround Sue” in the “Shout! Shout!” Song!) Well, here’s one of them. It’s not my fault these songwriters were pro-life-ilk or prolific or whatever it was. This is one of the great Dion classics, and man has it been covered! The list goes from country’s Eddie Rabbitt to rock’s Bad Company and Status Quo. Dion said (as quoted in Picky Wedia) that this isn’t the happy song it appears to be on the surface. It’s true: while I’m the kind of gal who likes to go on vacation a lot and wander, the protagonist of the song seems to be afraid of commitment (“when I find myself falling for some girl I hop into my car and drive around the world”). That is kind of sad. But at least the guy recognizes this trait in himself. Later in the 60s Neil Diamond took a similar theme in “Solitary Man.” But this song is just too bouncy and fun to think of any negativity. The Wanderer Written by Eddie Maresca Recorded by Dion From Runaround Sue, 1962 I go through life without a care: