Story Behind The Song

While visiting Civil War sites, I imagined how a spouse waiting at home might feel.

Song Description

A young woman waiting for her husband's return from the Civil War reassures him of her faithfulness and love.

Lyrics

The fields are green, the grasses wave in the summer breeze in the heat of day
Though the work is hard and the days are long there is beauty in this day
For the time rolls by and the days they turn like a waterwheel in a time of flood
But with the setting sun and the breath of night
My heart will call you home

I will wait for you when the fire's low, by the windowsill
If you come by night see the candlelight that will guide you home
To this farm again, to my arms again.
But if you fail to come with the rising sun
You are still my heart's desire

When the autumn leaves litter field and farm with the bales of hay filling up the barn
When the geese take flight through the darkening night
'Cross the golden harvest moon
And when the nights grow cold and the trees lay bear
with their empty arms etched upon the sky
I'll be huddled here under quilt of down
And my heart will call you home

I will wait for you when the fire's low, by the windowsill
If you come by night see the candlelight that will guide you home
To this farm again, to my arms again.
But if you fail to come with the rising sun
You are still my heart's desire

And with each setting sun and each breath of night
My heart will call you home