The photo is of the Lower Barn Field, Robinhood Farm, Maine, 1965, photographed by Charlie Ipcar.
List of Songs ~ Charlie Ipcar Home Page
Copyright: Bob Dyer, © Songwright Publishing, Inc., 1981
As sung by Cathy Barton and Dave Para
Slight wording changes by Charlie Ipcar, 2026
Printable Version ~ PDF ~ MP3 Version ~ Notes
The photo is of the Lower Barn Field, Robinhood Farm, Maine, 1965, photographed by Charlie Ipcar.
On a day like today, in the heat of this late summer weather,
There's a haze in the trees and the sound of the bees in the clover;
There's a hawk on the wing, and a shine on the wide river flowing
And I feel deep inside something wanting to stay here forever.
Chorus:
Yet the seasons keep changing,
And the days just keep running away
And forever's a gift you're forever giving away.
On a day like today, in the last golden days of October,
There's a chill in the air, and a light glaze of frost on the clover;
There's a fire in the trees, and a sound in the breeze like a whisper,
And I feel deep inside something wanting to stay here forever. (CHO)
On a day like today, in the heart of a long bitter winter,
With the light from the moon making stars on the snow in the clover,
I sit down by the fire in the warmth of its slow dying embers,
And I feel deep inside something wanting to stay here forever. (CHO)
It's a morning in spring, and the dew on the jewel weed still glistens,
And I almost can hear new life being born as I listen;
I walk down by the stream and drink from its clear flowing waters,
And I feel deep inside something wanting to stay here forever. (CHO x2)
I wrote this song in 1981 when I was living in a rented farmhouse near what was once a town called Gooch's Mill, not far from my hometown of Boonville, Missouri. The house was on a hillside, and from my front porch I looked south across a field of clover and a bottomland bean field to the thickly wooded hills bordering the Petite Saline Creek. It was a lovely place to be reminded by the changing seasons why I have chosen to live out my life in central Missouri.
The song came on a late summer day when I found myself noticing the first subtle signs of autumn and silently wishing the moment could last forever, while at the same time realizing that what I so deeply loved about this landscape was its constantly changing color and texture. The song is my way of having the best of both these worlds.
On a day like today, in the heat of this late summer weather,
There's a haze in the trees and the sound of the bees in the clover;
There's a hawk in the sky, there's a shine on the wide river's water,
And I feel deep inside something wanting to stay here forever.
Chorus:
But the seasons keep changing,
And the days just keep running away,
And forever's a gift you're forever giving away.
On a day like today, in the last golden days of October,
There's a chill in the air and a light haze of frost on the clover;
There's a fire in the trees, there's a sound in the breeze like a whisper,
And I feel deep inside something wanting to stay here forever. (CHO)
On a day like today, in the heart of a long, bitter winter,
With the light from the moon making stars on the snow in the clover,
I sit down by the fire in the heat of its slow, dying embers,
And I feel deep inside something wanting to stay here forever. (CHO)
It's a morning in spring, and the dew on the jewel weed still glistens,
And I almost can hear new life being born as I listen;
I walk down by the spring and I drink from its clear flowing water,
And I feel deep inside something wanting to stay here forever. (CHO)