40
Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann
My father was a wanderer

Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann,

und mir steckt’s auch im Blut;

drum wandr’ ich froh, so lang ich kann,

und schwenke meinen Hut.

Valleri, vallera,

valleri, vallera hahahahaha,

valleri, vallera,

und schwenke meinen Hut.

 

Das Wandern schafft stets frische Lust,

erhält das Herz gesund,

frei atmet draußen meine Brust,

froh singet stets mein Mund.

Valleri…,

froh singet stets mein Mund.

My father was a wanderer,

and I also have it in my blood;

so I wander merrily as long as I can

and wave my hat.

Falleri, fallera,

falleri, fallera hahahahaha,

falleri, fallera,

and wave my hat.

 

Wandering always creates new pleasure,

keeps the heart healthy,

my breast breathes freely outside,

my mouth always sings happily.

Falleri…,

my mouth always sings happily.

The lyrics were written by Friedrich Sigismund (1788-1857) at the beginning of the 19th century. At the end of the 19th century, the lyrics were set to music repeatedly. However, the melody that is sung today is rather young. It was written by Friedrich-Wilhelm Möller (1912-1993) only at the beginning of the 50s (20th century). With this song, his sister won a choir competition in England which she participated as the conductor of a choir (1953). Afterwards, the song even made it to the billboard charts and suddenly spread around the world.