Songfacts®:

• Barton wrote this song after reading passages from his deceased father's journal. His father ended several entries with the year (ie. 1935) and the phrase "...here come I." When we spoke to Steve in 2012, he said he thought he phrase was cool and that it stuck in his head.
  
  In the diary itself, Steve told us there were entries about typical things for a kid would write about. He'd write about playing baseball and taking trips with his parents. Steve explained: "He grew up in Chicago, but he took a trip to California and he talked about going to some restaurant and seeing Edward G. Robinson or some other movie stars of the time there. Just typical stuff that a kid would write about." (Here's the full interview with Steve Barton.)
• Barton says this song that was written "literally about as long as it takes to sing it." He wrote the song while sitting in front of his house when a "little fingerpick guitar thing" popped into his head.