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
Wild Is the Wind (song) Into the Forest. Randy Crawford covered the song on her 2001 album "Permanent" (a.k.a. "Play Mode"). Scottish singers Storm Gordon (as featured on her 2001 album-debut "Radio Wonderlust Vol. 1") and Billy Mackenzie, have also recorded the song. Billy MacKenzie's version appeared posthumously on the 2001 EP "Wild Is the Wind" and on the 2005 album "Transmission Impossible." TV on the Radio sampled Nina Simone's version on the song "Say You Do" on their self-released 2002 debut "OK Calculator." In 2003, Barbra Streisand recorded the song for her album "The Movie Album" (2003), and filmed a music video. Amel Larrieux