Farthest Field

Composed by David Dodson, Camden, Maine

Led here by Mia Bertelli at the Winter Northeast Organic Farmer's conference

Lyrics

Walk with me and we will see
The mystery revealed.
When one day we wend our way
Up to the farthest field.

There is a land, high on a hill,
There is a voice that calls to me.
The air is sweet, the grasses wave,
The wind is blowing
Away up in the farthest field.

The sun will rise, the sun will set
Across the mountains and we will live in beauty there
The fragrant flowers, the days and hours
Will not be counted, and peaceful songs will fill the air

I know one day I'll leave my home,
here in this valley, and climb up to that field so fair
And when I'm called, and counted in that final talley
I know that I will see you there.

Oh my dear friend, I truly love
To hear your voices lifted up in radiant song
Though through the years we all have made
Our separate choices we've ended here where we belong

The Story

David Dodson from Camden, Maine, wrote this walking hills in Vermont with a group of friends. But it landed in Maine like it had always been here. We've sung it around campfires countless times, in fields, on mountaintops. It's a song that sticks.

My favorite moments are the organic ones, when Katie Newell leads a verse, then Ellen Gawler, then Ethan Tischler, then Elsie, then Edith, people just taking turns because they know it and love it. When a song does that, it belongs to everyone. A perennial at Fiddle Camp and anywhere I sing.

I like to teach the chorus first, then sing it out... the way the responses happen in line one and three get confusing in line two and four (no repeats) for folks who have never heard the song. It can be helpful to demonstrate that first, depending on the crowd. Often we just launch in and it all works out.