Hey, Church! 

The beautiful hymn, “I Wonder As I Wander” is attributed to folk writer, John Jacob Niles, although the melody seems to have existed before him as an Appalachian folk tune. The exact form and origin of that melody has been lost to history. In Niles’ autobiography, he explained how the song came to be: 

“The place was Murphy, North Carolina, and the time was July 1933… A girl had stepped out to the edge of the little platform attached to the automobile. She began to sing. Her clothes were unbelievable dirty and ragged, and she, too, was unwashed. Her ash-blond hair hung down in long skeins…. But, best of all, she was beautiful, and in her untutored way, she could sing. She smiled as she sang, smiled rather sadly, and sang only a single line of a song… At twenty-five cents a performance, I tried to get her to sing all the song. After eight tries, all of which are carefully recorded in my notes, I had only three lines of verse, a garbled fragment of melodic material–and a magnificent idea.”

Niles filled in the missing pieces to form four verses: 

I wonder as I wander out under the sky,
How Jesus the Savior did come for to die
For poor on’ry* people like you and like I.
I wonder as I wander out under the sky.

When Mary birthed Jesus ’twas in a cow’s stall,
With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all.
But high from God’s heaven a star’s light did fall,
And the promise of ages it then did recall.

If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing,
A star in the sky, or a bird on the wing,
Or all of God’s angels in heav’n for to sing,
He surely could have it, ’cause he was the King.

I wonder as I wander out under the sky,
How Jesus the Savior did come for to die
For poor on’ry people like you and like I.
I wonder as I wander out under the sky.

It amazes me how some songs seem to preexist their authors. Songwriters have described the feeling that it was always “in the ether” and they were simply the lucky scribe the song chose to bring it to light. Virtually nothing is known of Annie Morgan today. It seems fitting that such a haunting melody would be introduced to the world by a mysterious, poor girl who “smiled rather sadly” as she sang it, and then disappeared into history. By God’s providence, John Jacob Niles was there to write it down and preserve it for our generation. 

In contrast to most of the songs we sing during the Advent and Christmas seasons, “I Wonder As I Wander” is like a mournful smile. In that sense, it perfectly captures the spirit of Advent, when all of creation is groaning, longing for the Savior’s return. One can imagine how Annie, disheveled and impoverished, must have felt so small beneath the starry night sky, pondering in her heart how God surrendered all the glories of heaven–even His own life–for her. It is a beautifully intimate confession, “I wonder as I wander out under the sky that Jesus, my Savior, did come for to die.” 

My favorite arrangement of this song comes from Audrey Assad (linked below). We plan to open this weekend’s service with our worship team’s own interpretation of her arrangement, complete with violin and cello. Please come early so you don’t miss this special opportunity to prepare your heart for worship.