Windward Wanderlust
Words by Samantha Moore and Lisa Theriot
Music by Samantha Moore
© 2005 Raven Boy Music

        Am                  G                                          capo 3
When I was but a young girl
          Em            Am    
I had aspirations none
           Am                G
But to marry a rich merchant
                Em                           Am
And bear him rich merchant’s sons
   C          G        Am            E
Hearing once a minstrel’s song
     C         G         E
I made another choice
             Am         G             Am
Judged not by blood nor breeding
              F         G         Am
But the beauty of my voice

     Am    C      G
A windward wanderlust
        Am             G           E
Has called me from my home
        Am       C       G             Em
To find myself in fortune’s grace
        F           G       Am
The byways for to roam

Along the road I met a man
A comely as the sky
He offered for my travels
But a single question, Why
Would I reject the marriage bed
A home, a hearth, a fire
Oh, I seek rings from noble hands
Fame is my desire

My windward wanderlust
Wouldn’t let me be his own
And so it was I steeled my heart
And made my way alone

Onward to the market towns
I traveled, seeking fame
Soon from inn to gilded hall
The people knew my name
But then cruel fate did strike me down
As like to be God’s will
For with the winter came the snow,
With it I grew ill

My windward wanderlust
And pride had made me vain
The road it held no warmth for me
But the snow, the sleet, the rain

I walked as far as I could walk
I crawled yet farther still
My body numb, my senses gone
Naught held me but my will
I had no fire no shelter
No voice left to summon aid
I shivered in the frozen wind
Alone, apart, afraid.

Damn my windward wanderlust
The master of my fate
Across the light of freedom fell
A shadow seen too late.

Slowly I awoke and I
No longer was alone
Wrapped within thick furs
I felt the warmth sink to my bones
A young man sat beside
I tried to speak but all in vain
The fear rose up inside me
Would I ever sing again?

Had my windward wanderlust
Damned me for vanity
And how had I this angel gained
To sit and watch o’er me?

Many years have passed
I’ve no regrets I would declare
Just a bruising to my ego
And a lesson to beware
When you make your prideful way
Without a home or friend
The greatest fame still leaves you
Cold and friendless in the end.

Though my windward wanderlust
May take me from the town
Not every hand that’s offered you
Will try to tie you down

Though my windward wanderlust
Has ta’en me far to roam
The east wind takes me wandering
But the west wind brings me home!