New Releases with Extended Mix of “The Wanderer” by U2

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2020-06-26)

U2’s “The Wanderer” with Johnny Cash has always been a favourite of ours. And we’re happy to report there is a new release out today that features the song, a couple of new releases actually. And it is NOT the more common version found on U2’s Zooropa album and a number of Johnny Cash compilations. The version released today is the version that appeared on the soundtrack album to Faraway, So Close! film in 1993. That movie featured two U2 tracks, and the alternate version of “The Wanderer” features an additional verse which is missing from the more common version. The soundtrack, which also featured an alternate version of “Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” has become hard to find. If you want to hear this alternate mix of “The Wanderer”, you can play it at the bottom of this page.

“I went out walking
Down that widening road
Where no one’s trusting no one
And conscience, a too heavy load.”

The song is released today on the new Johnny Cash compilation, Easy Rider: The Best of the Mercury Recordings. The compilation features a look at Johnny Cash’s work on Mercury Records between 1986 and 1991. This compilation features the best of those tracks. The album is being issued on streaming services, digital store fronts, CD and double vinyl. Original plans had called for the release of this album on April 24th but it was held back until now due to the virus affecting the world.

Also released today is a seven album box set titled Johnny Cash: The Complete Mercury Studio Recordings (1986-1991) from which the tracks making up the compilation come. This seven disc vinyl / CD set includes the albums released on Mercury. On the CD and digital versions of the box, there are bonus tracks included on some of the albums, and “The Wanderer” is included on The Mystery of Life. It is, however, not included on the vinyl version of the box set.

All of the tracks on both the compilation and in the box set have ben remastered by engineer Kevin Reeves at UMG Studios in Nashville from the original master tapes. That’s part of the excitement here. The original soundtrack pressing was mastered so that “The Wanderer” was super loud, and some of the peaks of the track are clipped. The new version, released today is mastered at a lower volume and no clipping is present. The remastering here sounds great and breathes new life into the track. And it’s always been a prefered mix for me with the additional verse missing in the original mix.

For those who haven’t heard the alternate mix before we’ve included it below, officially streamed via Universal Music. It should be available in most countries, but we apologize if everyone is not able to listen.

We’ll work on getting a discography entry for these two releases over the weekend. The new lyrics come in just before the 2:00 minute mark in the audio if you are trying to jump directly to the extra lyrics.

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