“My Heart is a Hobo” is a ballad written by Johnny Burke (lyrics) (1908-1964) and Jimmy Van Heusen (music) (1913-1990) for the 1947 movie musical Welcome Stranger. Bing Crosby, playing a young doctor, sings the song in a scene that finds him gone fishing in a small town with an older doctor played by Barry Fitzgerald. As Bing sings it, his “heart is a hobo” because he “loves to roam through fields of clover” and ‘hates to have to think things over.” Think here of a lazy country mood Bing Crosby was just made for.
The plot summary is as follows.
Crusty Dr. McRory of Fallbridge, Maine hires a replacement for his vacation sight unseen. Alas, he and young singing doctor Jim Pearson don’t hit it off; but Pearson is delighted to stay, once he meets teacher Trudy Mason. The locals, taking their cue from McRory, cold-shoulder Pearson, especially Trudy’s stuffy fiancée. But then, guess who needs an emergency appendectomy? IMDB
If you prefer a more succinct summary, TCM describes it like this: “A small-town doctor resents the presence of a new younger physician and his newfangled ways.” In either case, hilarity ensues.
Another song from the film, “As Long as I’m Dreaming” was moderately successful beyond the movie, while Billboard magazine wrote at the time that other songs featured, including “My Heart is a Hobo,” have “production value only.” I assume that means it was entertaining only in the context of the film.
Interesting to note that Welcome Stranger was the highest-grossing film released in the United States during 1947.
It would seem that a lot of pleasant enough music written by bona fide music writing superstars, even for box office smashes, didn’t travel well outside the theatre. I wonder if the songwriters had the same expectation. That said, beside Crosby, Tex Beneke, Lena Horne, and Rosemary Clooney each recorded it. More than a few must have liked it.
I’ve chosen the Lena Horne version for the bonus track. Seems to work a bit better with a faster tempo big band arrangement behind it.