The Wayward Bus (album)

The Wayward Bus
Studio album by The Magnetic Fields
Released	1992 January 1994 (reissue)
Length	28:39
Label	PoPuP Merge Records (reissue) MRG075
The Magnetic Fields chronology
Distant Plastic Trees (1991) The Wayward Bus (1992) The House of Tomorrow (1992)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	B+[2]

The Wayward Bus is an album by The Magnetic Fields, released in 1992. It is the follow-up to the band's first album, Distant Plastic Trees, and the band's last album with Susan Anway as lead vocalist.

The title of the album is taken from the John Steinbeck novel The Wayward Bus.

The front cover was painted by Wendy Smith, the girlfriend of Stuart Moxham from Young Marble Giants. She had previously provided front covers for releases by The Gist and The Weekend.^[3] (This is not the same Wendy Smith who was once a member of Prefab Sprout.)

The album was reissued by Merge Records in 1994 as the second half of a double album compilation with Distant Plastic Trees.

Track listing

All tracks written by Stephin Merritt.

1. "When You Were My Baby" – 2:43
2. "The Saddest Story Ever Told" – 2:12
3. "Lovers from the Moon" – 2:52
4. "Candy" – 2:32
5. "Tokyo à Go-Go" – 3:12
6. "Summer Lies" – 2:59
7. "Old Orchard Beach" – 2:54
8. "Jeremy" – 3:01
9. "Dancing in Your Eyes" – 2:56
10. "Suddenly There Is a Tidal Wave" – 3:18

Personnel

• Stephin Merritt – songwriting, instrumentation and production
• Claudia Gonson – cocktail drums
• Sam Davol – cello

Additional personnel

• Susan Anway – vocals
• Johny Blood – tuba, horns
• Wendy Smith – album cover

References