This old American standard was composed sometime in the 1850's by R. Bishop Buckley. Buckley was a member of The Buckley Serenaders, a popular minstrel group founded by his father James Buckley, a British immigrant who brought all three of his sons into the family business. Although the lyrics are not especially memorable, the infectious melody has kept the song a favorite for almost a century and a half.

As Irwin Silber notes in Songs of the Civil War, "Wait for the Wagon" inspired (by his count) no fewer than ten political- or military-related parodies during the War years. One of the more popular was "The Southern Wagon."

This song is for Chuck Ten Brink, because he asked for it.

"Wait for the Wagon"