This house is sad,
Because he’s not
inside it

Where does he hide
When someone comes,
To the front door

There’s no one, there’s no one, there's no one, no one
There’s no one, no one, there’s no one, no one,
There’s no one, no one, there’s no one, no one,
There’s no one, no one, there’s no one to say meow, kitties,
Meow, kitties,
Meow, kitties,
Meow, kitties,
Meow



Lyrics submitted by tiredgorilla

Track duration: 02:43


Leaf House song meanings
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59 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:i know these are the official lyrics, but surely on an animal collective song, it can never be a coincidence when two lines sound phonetically similar. on this song, ikeep hearing "no-one... to sort me ooout - me oout..." instead of "...to say meoow...".
    Flag honiczon October 28, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is amazing, I've been listening to it over and over for about 45 minutes now and i could do this all day! i feel like i'm in this weird dream world right now and I'm not even high... it's like, speaking to my soul right now. except it is so CREEPY at the end meow KITTIES meow oh my god

    I get the sense that most Animal Collective songs are less about the lyrics than the overall feelings and images evoked by the music itself.
    Flag rainintheroseson July 10, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The lyrics are dead on. Not sure where people are hearing tidy. Not only do I think this song is about the book House of Leaves but, specifically about Zampano, whom, while reading the beginning of the book, you wish hadn't died. Because he seems like a hell of a character.

    "This house is sad,
    Because he’s not
    inside it"
    Zampano dies. Before the story even begins. He's not inside the house that he lived in.

    "Where does he hide
    When someone comes,
    To the front door"

    Everyone seems to be forgetting that Zampano was an old blind guy. Where does someone blind hide from an intruder?

    "There’s no one, no one, there’s no one, no one,
    There’s no one, no one, there’s no one to say meow, kitties,"

    He also took care of the stray cats outside his flat. Now that he's dead. There's no one, to say "meow, kitties".

    I also like the harmony he put at the end of one of the meow's. That extra "ooo" just put a nice spark on all of it.

    Flag Norvayaon December 26, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:the best part about not knowing what they sing is that you can make up your own lyrics.
    Flag enjoyyourrootson December 05, 2010   Link
  • 0
    Lyric Correction:It's
    "this house is sad,
    because he's not,
    tidy"
    Flag GlitterPenison November 07, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:wonder if this song actualy means smthing...it's animal collective n they always have an explanation 4their songs.
    Flag panda82on April 27, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:wow I'm a retard and didn't see the second page about House of Leaves already on here haha. sorry for any repeats in the meanings of lyrics I didn't read the other comments....
    Flag ChrisSquarepantson January 19, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:On the radio today there was nothing but animal collective on this one station and I heard this song twice, which made me think of what this song is about... If anyone has read House of Leaves, I think that's where a lot of this song came from. Besides the obvious (the name), the lyrics:

    This house is sad,
    because he's not inside it...

    In the book the characters get obsessed with a house that has a labyrinth inside it and they explore it. One of the main characters Navidson wants to forget about it but can't and always returns to try and figure out how it works or why it's there. It breaks up his family and ruins his life.

    There's no one, there's no one, there's no one
    There's no one, there's no one, there's no one...

    Everyone that enters the labryinth feels a sense of something waiting to attack, they just never actually see anything. This might be what they were telling themselves.(?)

    Meow, kitties
    Meow, kitties...

    In House of Leaves Johnny Truant says Zampano always had cats around him, and he was always wondering why.

    If anyone has read the book I'm talking about, let me know what you think. Maybe I'm just over thinking this because of some stuff I was smoking but I thought this was pretty cool!
    Flag ChrisSquarepantson January 19, 2010   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:I think it's about a person who hasn't left their house in a long time because they're in mourning over their dead cat who they can't converse with anymore.
    Flag love_is_freeon December 17, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:oops, didn't see the second page here. looks like you guys got this covered
    Flag Qwerty0on November 11, 2009   Link

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