The Lonely Goatherd

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“The Lonely Goatherd”

Song from The Sound of Music

Published

1959

Chronology

"Sixteen Going on Seventeen"

“The Lonely Goatherd”

"How Can Love Survive"

"The Lonely Goatherd" is a show tune from the musical The Sound Of Music that makes use of yodelling.

This song tells the whimsical story of a goatherd whose yodelling is heard from far off and by passers-by, until he falls in love with a girl who wears a pale-pink coat, with her mother joining in the yodelling.

This song has been sung at different points in the musical depending on the production. In the 1959 Broadway production, Maria von Trapp (played by Mary Martin) sings the song in the children's bedroom to comfort them during a storm, while in the 1965 film Maria (played by Julie Andrews) and the children sing it as part of a marionette show they perform for their father. (A different song, "My Favorite Things," is performed in the bedroom for the film version.)

Many subsequent stage productions have placed this song at different points in the musical. In the 1981 West End revival with Petula Clark, Maria and the children sing it at a fair, and in the 1998 Broadway revival with Rebecca Luker it is sung at the Salzburg Festival concert.

The lively number reappears later in the film version as a deliberately-paced and very Austrian-sounding instrumental, the Ländler, a dance performed by the Captain and Maria. It then serves as the catalyst to a dramatic juncture in the film, as the young apprentice nun Maria realizes that she is in love with the Captain.

The song is a well-known example of yodeling, which is a part of the traditional music of the Austrian Alps, where the musical is set. The lyrics are also well-known and widely quoted, especially the opening line, "High on a hill was a lonely goatherd."

The song has appeared in many other places and is popular as a cultural reference. Examples:

It was performed on The Muppet Show with Julie Andrews in 1978, as the opening number for episode 217.
It was parodied in "Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act", the fifth incarnation of Gerard Alessandrini's 1982 off-Broadway show, Forbidden Broadway. The album was released in 1999.
It was one of many songs illegally sampled by The JAMs for their 1987 album, 1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?), in the song "Next."
An instrumental version is included in the soundtrack for the 2001 musical film Moulin Rouge!.
A big band version of the song appears on Songs I Heard, a 2001 album by Harry Connick, Jr.
It was used in a scene in the 2003 film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.
It was sampled by Gwen Stefani for her song "Wind It Up", from her 2006 album The Sweet Escape. "Wind it Up" was moderately successful as a single, reaching the top 20 in most music markets.
It was parodied in the "Animaniacs" episode "The Sound of Warners", as "The Grumpy Chicken", apparently found "deep in a valley."
It was performed in "The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou", a 2007 episode of Family Guy, by Peter Griffin (the father) while he used Joe Swanson (neighbor) as a marionette.