Interesting question. I first heard the Limeliters' version of the song when I was very young and these were the lyrics, taken from that recording:

I was born for roaming,
Guess I always will.
Oh, I wonder if it's greener
On the far side of the hill.

Way down, look down yonder,
There's earth and green and sky;
I'll bet we could get on down there
In the battin' of an eye.

And further west there's ocean,
A miner told me so;
And the sun, it shines so brightly,
It scares off winter snow.

But then, sometimes I'm tired,
Sometimes I'm lonesome too.
Sometimes, I see a farmer
Walking slow when day is through.

And I know, he's got a woman
Waiting supper everyday.
And I curse this wanderin' fever
That stole my love away.

Yes, I was born for roaming,
Guess I always will;
Oh I wonder, if it's greener
On the far side of the hill.

I wonder if it's greener
On the far side of the hill.

I always thought Vicki Arnold wrote it. But, Morgan Ames? Never heard of her. So, I did a little digging and found this site with an essay by Ms. Ames. But let me cut to the chase here - the bio at the bottom of the page reads as follows:

***********************************

Morgan Ames

Morgan was singing and playing in clubs at 16, wrote a hit at 18, ("Far Side of the Hill") and another later with Dave Grusin (TV's Baretta's Theme). She learned the business from Quincy Jones, for whom she worked for three years. She co-produced the double Grammy winning album "Diane Schuur and the Count Basie Orchestra" and is an established session singer and vocal arranger who has recorded with Kenny Loggins, Wynonna, Vanessa Wiliams, David Foster, has written vocal arrangements for Al Jarreau, Dionne Warwick, Bette Midler, Yanni, David Benoit, has performed with Paul McCartney, Chaka Kahn, Jerry Butler, Doobie Brothers, Patti Austin, has sung in films such as Sister Act I & II, Quest for Camelot, Amistad, League of Their Own. Her songs have been recorded by Roberta Flack, Shirley Horne, Barbara Mandrell, Bob James, Peggy Lee, etc. Morgan currently performs with Inner Voices.

***********************************

But then, I started Googling Vicki Arnold and came up with this link which is a Catalog of Copyright Entries covering January - June 1964 (Google Books). There, on page 869, Vicki Arnold is given copyright credit for the song.

Conclusive proof? Hard to say for certain, but I would definitely lean more toward Vicki Arnold on this one.


Jay