Clem Chesterfield’s new song ‘Date Night’ talks of a farm couple spending long hours in the tractor and combine
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
An Ontario musician’s latest song pays tribute to hardworking farm families everywhere.
Clem Chesterfield’s ‘Date Night’ tells the story of a man and woman in love, putting in long hours on the farm.
“I got to talking with some of my farm friends and the song is basically a compilation of those conversations,” the Kingston, Ont.-based performer, whose real name is Tim Sheffield, told Farms.com. “These farmers are putting in long hours, stopping for dinner, spending a little bit of time with their kids and then are back out in the tractor. Sometimes being in the tractor together is the only time a farm husband and wife get to spend with one another.”
The song doesn’t shy away from some of the challenges associated with farming.
Some lyrics describe downed wheat, burned soybeans and corn that didn’t yield well.
Another verse highlights how bankers may not be concerned with weather and soil conditions, so long as the money is where it needs to be.
“We’re working on a music video and we’ve got a banker standing on the edge of a field in a suit trying to call the farmer over to show him how bad things are,” Chesterfield said.
Including those types of subjects in the song was important, he added.
“These are all things that are beyond (a farmer’s) control and yet they’re out there every day and it’s a true testament to the kind of people farmers are,” he said.
Growing up in Kingston, having a hobby farm and working on a dairy farm, Chesterfield knows where his food comes from.
And any farmer or person who works in agriculture would also understand the work and difficulties involved with raising a crop or livestock.
But listeners from urban communities can learn from the song as well, Chesterfield said.
“If they don’t know about agriculture, I would hope this song helps them recognize the work that goes into raising our food,” he said. “Like every time someone picks up an egg I would hope they think this came from a farm and the farmer raised the chicken to lay this egg.”
The song ‘Date Night’ is off Chesterfield’s new Album ‘Of Lures and Love.’
An album release party is scheduled for June 5 at the Wolfe Island Farmer’s Market and General Wolfe Inn.
Clemchesterfield.com photo