Distant Land To Roam: A Song History

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"A Distant Land to Roam" is a song about leaving home: the singer sets out for a faraway land, and his mother bids him farewell but dies while he is away.[1] The Carter Family recorded it for Victor in Atlanta on November 25, 1929, with A. P. Carter singing bass, Sara Carter alto and Maybelle Carter soprano, and Sara and Maybelle playing guitars.[2] The record was issued as Victor V-40255 and also appeared on the Bluebird and Montgomery Ward labels.[2] The disc label credited A. P. Carter as composer, and the Discography of American Historical Recordings also lists the song under the alternate title "Leaving Home."[2]

Lithograph of a man taking leave of a woman at the doorway of a stone building, holding the reins of his horse

Horace Vernet, The Farewells, lithograph, c. early 1800s. A farewell at a doorway, shown for its subject; it has no connection to the song.

A partial text titled "The Wanderer," sung by Davis Littus, appears in the second volume of Fred W. Allsopp's Folklore of Romantic Arkansas (1931).[1] Jim Miller includes the song in 15 Tunes In The Public Domain Recorded By The Carter Family, Volume 2, a book of mountain dulcimer tablature, lyrics and chord symbols for fifteen songs performed by the Carter Family, published by Fingers Of Steel; the book credits the song to M. L. Bandy, 1902.[3] The sources consulted here do not confirm that attribution or identify an earlier printed source.[1][2]

Our book that contains the song "Distant Land To Roam"

Sources

  1. The Traditional Ballad Index: "A Distant Land to Roam".
  2. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Victor matrix BVE-56586. A distant land to roam / Carter Family".
  3. Fingers Of Steel: "Jim Miller, 15 Tunes In The Public Domain Recorded By The Carter Family, Volume 2".
  4. Image: Horace Vernet, The Farewells, lithograph, c. early 1800s. The Cleveland Museum of Art.

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