They Call the Wind Maria "popular hit singles at the record stores" that year. It has since become a standard, performed by many notable singers across several genres of popular music. A striking feature of the song in the original orchestration (also used in many cover versions), is a driving, staccato rhythm, played on the string instruments, that evokes a sense of restless motion. It has been called "Paint Your Wagon"'s "best known song" and "rousing but plaintive." Musicologist Stephen Citron wrote, "Perhaps the most unusual song in the score is a beautiful ballad of lonely prospectors hungering for their women, "They Call the Wind
The Wind (Nolan Strong & The Diablos song) (C-445). The Wind (Nolan Strong & The Diablos song) "The Wind" is a 1954 doo-wop song by Nolan Strong & The Diablos. The song appeared originally on the group's second 45rpm single, "The Wind" b/w "Baby Be Mine" (Fortune Records). In 2007, "The Metro Times" listed "The Wind" at no. 11 in "The 100 Greatest Detroit Songs" list - which was the November 11 cover story. "The Wind" was the group's only national hit, though most of the group's other hits were local successes in Detroit, including "Mind Over Matter" (1962), which went to no. 1 on local radio station