The Wayward Bus is a 1992 album by The Magnetic Fields

The Magnetic Fields

The Magnetic Fields is the principal creative outlet of singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt...

. It is the follow-up to the band's debut album, Distant Plastic Trees

Distant Plastic Trees

Distant Plastic Trees is the 1991 debut album by The Magnetic Fields, featuring the lead vocals of Susan Anway. Merge Records reissued the album in 1994 as a double album compilation with the band's following release, The Wayward Bus...

, and the last album to feature Susan Anway as lead vocalist. The album was reissued by Merge Records

Merge Records

Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world and records...

 in 1994 as the first half of a double album compilation with Distant Plastic Trees. The title of the album is taken from the John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck

John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...

 novel of the same name

The Wayward Bus

The Wayward Bus is a novel by American author John Steinbeck, originally published in 1947. Steinbeck dedicated this novel to "Gwyn", presumably a reference to his second wife Gwyndolyn Conger...

.

The front cover was painted by Prefab Sprout

Prefab Sprout

Prefab Sprout are an alternative English pop rock band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham, England who rose to fame during the 1980s. Eight of their albums have reached the Top 40 in the UK Albums Chart, and one of their singles, "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", peaked at number seven in the UK...

's Wendy Smith.

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 Á 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
  Stephin Merritt
  Stephin Merritt is an American singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles , best known as the principal singer and songwriter in the band The Magnetic Fields...
  
   – songwriting, instrumentation and production
• Susan Anway – vocals
• Johny Blood – tuba, horns
• Sam Davol
  Sam Davol
  Samuel Bradford Davol is a musician best known for his work with the indie pop band The Magnetic Fields. He is featured several times in videos for The Magnetic Fields, and in the opening for "Born on a Train", his cello is featured at the beginning of the video...
  
   – cello
• Claudia Gonson
  Claudia Gonson
  Claudia Miriam Gonson, is an American musician best known for her work with The Magnetic Fields. She occasionally provides the band lead vocals as well as performing the piano or drums...
  
  – cocktail drums
• Wendy Smith - album cover