Wandering - Tim O’Brien / Howdy Skies Music / Universal Music Corp / ASCAP

My pathway leads into the west
They say it never really ends
These legs of mine weren’t made to rest
I let them take me where they send me wandering
As long as I remember I’ve been wandering
January to December I go wandering

No one asks the wind to blow
No one tells a bird to fly
No one tells me when to go
I don’t need a reason why I’m wanderin’
As long as I remember I’ve been wandering
January to December I go wandering

A hundred fifty years ago
The famine pushed us off the land
Now we live beside the road
You’ll see us in our caravans wandering
As long as I remember I’ve been wandering
January to December I go wandering

This life I lead is in my blood
It’s not for me to understand
There isn’t much I want to own
Take what I will, where I can, I’m wanderin’
As long as I remember I’ve been wandering
January to December wandering

My pathway leads into the west
They say it never really ends
These legs of mine weren’t made to rest
I let them take me where they send me wandering
As long as I remember I’ve been wandering
January to December I go wandering
Wanna know where I’ve been, I’m wandering

-Some of the most vital traditional Irish music comes from Irish Travelers, with the Doran, Fury, and Keenan families well represented. This subset of Irish culture is known for the buying and selling of horses, for their expertise in mending pots (hence their being called “tinkers”), and for continuing the oral traditions of old Ireland. I wrote Wandering one early morning at Ron Kavana’s house in London in their honor.