The Happy Wanderer" ("Der fröhliche Wanderer" or "Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann") is a popular song. The original text was written by Florenz Friedrich Sigismund (1791–1877).

The present tune was composed by Friedrich-Wilhelm Möller shortly after World War II. The work is often mistaken for a German folk song, but it is an original composition. Möller's sister Edith conducted a small amateur children's and youth choir in the district of Schaumburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany, internationally named Obernkirchen Children's Choir, in Germany named Schaumburger Märchensänger. She adapted Sigismund's words for her choir.

I first discovered this, however, upon coming across another animatronic band (now-forgotten unless you find it on YouTube), known as Ursula and the Oompapas, brought to us by Sally Dark Rides, the same company that gave us Daniel and the Dixie Diggers (which had inspired my arrangement of "Alexander's Ragtime Band"); I like to think of them as a different take on cartoon characters. Unlike the latter, which is all dogs (if I am not mistaken), the former has a beautiful young European woman accompanied by four bears; one plays the tuba, another simultaneously beats a bass drum while playing a trumpet, another plays the clarinet, and the fourth plays the accordion. Ursula herself plays a tambourine.

My arrangement, however, is a simplified one for B-flat clarinet, vibraphone, and piano. The first loop has the vibraphone playing the melody while the clarinet has a countermelody, and the instruments switch roles for the second and final loop.

---

This arrangement © me and me alone
Original recording © Parlaphone Records and everybody else who owns the rights, and composed by Friedrich-Wilhelm Möller, with the original text by Florenz Friedrich Sigismund.
Ursula and the Oompapas © Sally Corporation, Sally Dark Rides, and everyone else who owns the rights.

---

The Happy Wanderer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_QJi7wVENE (original recording)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jbD7vTKVi0 (Ursula and the Oompapas)

Song starts at 4:15.