What's Forever For

{{Short description|1979 song written by Rafe Van Hoy}}

{{Infobox song

| name = What's Forever For

| artist = England Dan & John Ford Coley

| album = Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jive

| cover =

| alt =

| released = March 1979

| recorded = October 1978

| venue =

| studio =

| writer = Rafe Van Hoy

| genre = Soft rock

| length = 3:25

| label = Big Tree

| producer = Kyle Lehning

}}

{{Infobox song

| name = What's Forever For

| cover = Murphey - Whats Forever single cover.JPG

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Michael Martin Murphey

| album = Michael Martin Murphey

| B-side = Crystal

| released = June 14, 1982

| recorded = August 31, 1981

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Country, soft rock

| length = 2:52

| label = Liberty 1466

| writer = Rafe Van Hoy

| producer = Jim Ed Norman

| prev_title = The Two-Step Is Easy

| prev_year = 1982

| next_title = Still Taking Chances

| next_year = 1983

}}

"What's Forever For" is a song written by Rafe Van Hoy and first recorded by England Dan & John Ford Coley on their 1979 album Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jive.

The song saw its biggest success when it was recorded by American country music artist Michael Martin Murphey. It was released in June 1982 as the second single from his album, Michael Martin Murphey. The song was Murphey's first of two number ones on the country chart. The single went to number one for one week and spent 16 weeks in the country top 40.{{cite book |title= The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, 2nd Edition|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=241}} On the Hot 100, "What's Forever For" was his final top 40 hit, peaking at number 19.{{cite book |title= The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: 8th Edition |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=442}} The song is also one of his most well known in the Philippines, along with "Maybe This Time".

Charts

=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable sortable"

!align="left"|Chart (1982)

!align="center"|Peak
position

{{singlechart|Billboardhot100|19|artist=Michael Martin Murphey}}
{{singlechart|Billboardadultcontemporary|4|artist=Michael Martin Murphey}}
{{singlechart|Billboardcountrysongs|1|artist=Michael Martin Murphey}}
align="left"|Canadian RPM Country Tracks

|align="center"|1

align="left"|Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks

|align="center"|7

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable sortable"

!Chart (1982)

!Position

US Billboard Hot 100{{cite magazine |date=December 25, 1982 |title=Talent in Action : Top Pop Singles |page=TIA-20 |magazine=Billboard |volume=94 |issue=51 }}

|align="center"|93

US Adult Contemporary (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1982/adult-contemporary-songs|title=Adult Contemporary Songs – Year-End 1982|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=June 24, 2021}}

|align="center"|42

US Hot Country Songs (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1982/hot-country-songs|title=Hot Country Songs – Year-End 1982|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=June 24, 2021}}

|align="center"|3

Cover versions

References