# "I was born under a wandering star" melody **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 11, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-under-a-wandering-star-melody/383724 "2006-12-11T19:57:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-under-a-wandering-star-melody/383724/1 "2006-12-11T19:57:39Z")
I just saw the [**full version**](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdtXmBZsaM4) of this on YouTube - previously I had only heard the “wandering star” line. I was suprised to find that the melody for the verse (but not the lyrics) was very famililar. It also makes me think of Hallowe’en. Has it been used/sampled somewhere else? The bit I am referring to is: _“Mud can make you prisoner… never come true.”_ Full lyrics are [**here**](http://gatochy.blogspot.com/2006/10/lee-marvin-i-was-born-under-wandering.html). ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-under-a-wandering-star-melody/383724/2 "2006-12-11T20:04:46Z")
It comes from the musical comedy, “Paint Your Wagon.” The melody was composed by FredericK Lowe. To buy the soundtrack of the movie version go to: > **[Amazon.com: Paint Your Wagon (1969 Film): CDs & Vinyl](https://www.amazon.com/Paint-Your-Wagon-1969-Film/dp/B000002PEY)** > > No Description Available.Genre: Soundtracks & ScoresMedia Format: Compact DiskRating: Release Date: 12-APR-1994 ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-under-a-wandering-star-melody/383724/3 "2006-12-11T20:15:08Z")
I’d heard that Lee Marvin did his own singing in the movie. I still love the part where the preacher is cast into “hell”, and there’s Ben to greet him, whiskey in hand. ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-under-a-wandering-star-melody/383724/4 "2006-12-11T20:17:01Z")
[QUOTE=Sonia Montdore] It comes from the musical comedy, “Paint Your Wagon.” The melody was composed by FredericK Lowe. To buy the soundtrack of the movie version go to: > **[Amazon.com: Paint Your Wagon (1969 Film): CDs & Vinyl](https://www.amazon.com/Paint-Your-Wagon-1969-Film/dp/B000002PEY)** > > No Description Available.Genre: Soundtracks & ScoresMedia Format: Compact DiskRating: Release Date: 12-APR-1994 [/QUOTE] I understand that - what I’m saying is, I am convinced I have heard part of the melody used in another song. Either that, or the melody in Paint Your Wagon was taken from another song (less likely). ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-under-a-wandering-star-melody/383724/5 "2006-12-12T01:56:44Z")
[QUOTE=Duke of Rat] I’d heard that Lee Marvin did his own singing in the movie. /QUOTE] I heard the same, but also that Eastwood had a “ghost” singer on some of _his_tunes. Being a Marvin fan, I hope that he sang “Star”, but in keeping with the OP, I can’t think of anything recent which might have “sampled” the tune in question. Halloween? Maybe the old song, “You better watch out, when the curse goes by, for you may be the next to die. They wrap you up in a bloody sheet, and stick you down about 6 feet deep…” fits a little. What do y’all think? Q ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-under-a-wandering-star-melody/383724/6 "2006-12-12T02:05:07Z")
[QUOTE=Duke of Rat] I’d heard that Lee Marvin did his own singing in the movie. I still love the part where the preacher is cast into “hell”, and there’s Ben to greet him, whiskey in hand. [/QUOTE] Halloween? Maybe **this** one? “You better watch out when the hearse goes by, for you may be the next to die. They wrap you up in a bloody sheet and stick you down about 6 feet deep…” That’s the only tune I can think of which sounds _kinda_ like the melody? Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-under-a-wandering-star-melody/383724/7 "2006-12-12T02:06:47Z")
Sorry for the double post, but read 'em both please? Thanks Quasi ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-under-a-wandering-star-melody/383724/8 "2006-12-12T14:47:09Z")
[QUOTE=Quasimodem] Sorry for the double post, but read 'em both please? Thanks Quasi [/QUOTE] Do you have a link to where the melody is for that? I don’t recognise the lyrics but you never know. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-under-a-wandering-star-melody/383724/9 "2006-12-12T17:01:51Z")
Okay. Further research into that “Halloween” tune I mentioned reveals it is sung to the tune of Gounod’s “Death March of a Marionette”, otherwise known as the theme from the old “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” television series. Here is a link: [Alfred Hitchcock Presents / The Alfred Hitchcock Hour](http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/themePages/alfredHitchcock.html) To hear it, maybe download an MP3 file and see if it’s what you’re thinking of. Other than that, I can’t really think of a melody which comes close. Thanks for making me use a few “grey cells” I thought I had lost! 😃 Quasi ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-under-a-wandering-star-melody/383724/10 "2006-12-12T22:01:28Z")
To the OP’s question, the only thing I can think of that is even extremely vaguely similar is the middle section of Presley’s “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You”. (Yes, it steals most of “Plaisir D’Amour”, but that section is not in the original.) But thanks to the OP for posting that. I’ve never seen “Paint Your Wagon”, and that song was poignant and good enough to make me want to see the whole thing. [QUOTE=Quasimodem] I heard the same, but also that Eastwood had a “ghost” singer on some of _his_tunes. Being a Marvin fan, I hope that he sang “Star” [/QUOTE] Since it sounds **exactly** like his speaking voice, I’m going with it was him until proven otherwise. > [@](#): > > Further research into that “Halloween” tune I mentioned reveals it is sung to the tune of Gounod’s “Death March of a Marionette”, otherwise known as the theme from the old “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” television series. That’s not the tune I sang it to as a kid. My tune was more like Laurel and Hardy’s music, “The Cuckoo Song” (IIRC), but it definitely wasn’t that, either. I’ve never heard the “worms crawl in” tune anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-was-born-under-a-wandering-star-melody/383724/11 "2006-12-13T03:18:56Z")
[QUOTE=istara] Has it been used/sampled somewhere else? The bit I am referring to is: _“Mud can make you prisoner… never come true.”_ Full lyrics are [**here**](http://gatochy.blogspot.com/2006/10/lee-marvin-i-was-born-under-wandering.html). [/QUOTE] That bit sounds like the bridge from “Christmas in Killarney” ([here](http://www.songpeddler.com/JimCorbett/ChristmasInKillarney_JCorbett.asp) is a version that can be downloaded). It’s the part with “the door is always open, the neighbors pay a call.” Bing Crosby did a famous version.