I was in your presence for an hour or so

Or was it a day I truly don't know

Where the sun never set where the trees hung low

By that soft and shining sea

Did you respect me for what I did

Or for what I didn't do or for keeping it hid

Did I lose my mind when I tried to get rid

Of everything you see

In the summertime ah a in the summertime

In the summertime when you were with me

I got the heart and you got the blood

We cut through iron and we cut through mud

Then came the warnin' that was before the flood

That set everybody free

Fools they made a mock of sin

Our loyalty they tried to win

But you were closer to me than my next of kin

When they didn't want to know or see

In the summertime ah a in the summertime

In the summertime when you were with me

Strangers they meddled in our affairs

Poverty and shame was theirs

But all that sufferin' was not to be compared

With the glory that is to be

And I'm still carrying the gift you gave

It's a part of me now it's been cherished and saved

It'll be with me unto the grave

And then unto eternity

In the summertime ah a in the summertime

In the summertime when you were with me