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There is a house built out of stone
Wooden floors, walls and window sills
Tables and chairs worn by all of the dust
This is a place where I don't feel alone
This is a place where I feel at home
'Cause, I built a home
For you
For me
Until it disappeared
From me
From you
And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust
Out in the garden where we planted the seeds
There is a tree as old as me
Branches were sewn by the color of green
Ground had arose and passed it's knees
By the cracks of the skin I climbed to the top
I climbed the tree to see the world
When the gusts came around to blow me down
I held on as tightly as you held onto me
I held on as tightly as you held onto me
'Cause, I built a home
For you
For me
Until it disappeared
From me
From you
And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust
Wooden floors, walls and window sills
Tables and chairs worn by all of the dust
This is a place where I don't feel alone
This is a place where I feel at home
'Cause, I built a home
For you
For me
Until it disappeared
From me
From you
And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust
Out in the garden where we planted the seeds
There is a tree as old as me
Branches were sewn by the color of green
Ground had arose and passed it's knees
By the cracks of the skin I climbed to the top
I climbed the tree to see the world
When the gusts came around to blow me down
I held on as tightly as you held onto me
I held on as tightly as you held onto me
'Cause, I built a home
For you
For me
Until it disappeared
From me
From you
And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust
Lyrics submitted by Jonzard, edited by llamachama
Track duration: 06:11
"To Build a Home" as written by Jason Angus Stoddart Swinscoe Patrick Watson
Lyrics © THIRD SIDE MUSIC INC.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I suggest the song describes the "empty nest" that parents experience after their children have left the home.
Note, although the song refers to a home, the song starts with "there is a house" ... a "house" is also a term for a family. In the case of Game of Thrones or any other story where lineage is important, people are sometimes referred to as "House XXXXX."
The narrator of the story could be a mother or father (even though the singer, Patrick Watson, is male) as they describe what is a very simple house (stone and wood is as simple as it gets. Even drywall is considered a form of stone.)
"Wooden floors, walls and window sills - tables and chairs worn by all of the dust ..."
This implies that the house existed and had been in use before the child came along.
"This is a place where I don't feel alone, feel at home" Is pretty obviously a reference to a place where the family of the narrator exists.
"I built a home for you, for me" refers to the fact that parents often get themselves settled before having children. But in the end, the home environment they create for their children is something they do for themselves. It is in self-interest to create good homes for their kids.
"Until you disappeared from me, from you." This is, at first, an odd statement, especially the second part. "Disappear from you???" Except, if you look at it from the perspective of a parent watching their "young child" change - no longer be a child and suddenly an adult. And if you consider a child becoming an adult, they suddenly have "disappeared from themself." The child is gone, but they are the same being.
"And now it's time to leave and turn to dust." This represents the shifting of the perspective and narration. It's time for the child (now adult) to leave the nest and for the nest (home) to turn to dust, as it has served its purpose. From here out, the narrator is the child/adult.
"Out in the garden where we planted the seeds, there is a tree as old as me." Hopefully it should be obvious that the concept of "planting a seed" and conception are one and the same. This "tree" this "climbing platform" is the child's growth.
"Branches were sown by the color of green." This refers to the fact that each step (up the tree) were grown year by year as the child developed.
"Ground had arosed in past its knees." The ground was trying to keep the child weighed down and in place. (Keep in mind the child IS THE TREE.)
"By the cracks of its skin I climbed to the top." This is the child using the pain of childhood to mature and gain a better perpsective on the world. This child has not had a pampered life.
"I climbed the tree to see the world." See as above.
"When the gusts came around to blow me down - I held on as tightly as you held on me."
This is a crucial lyric, and one of many people's favorites. This represents the point where a child is forced, often painfully - at the pushing and pulling of the "real world" to leave the nest and make their own home. Parents hold on to their children, but ultimately, they let go. They can't hold on forever, and they know it.
"And I build a home for you, for me. ..."
The finale of the song is the final realization that the home we build for our next generation is something meaningful but ultimately temporary. Appreciate the brevity of the important things and hold them with proper reverence.
They "built a home", built a family of their own. Unfortunately, Will did not last long and passed away.
I think the song means that even if someone does everything to make love last, sometimes, it really wasn't meant to be. But, this song reminds us that we must move on, accept and move forward to what life has in store for us.
In the end though, I think the song is about something simple. To me it makes me think of my Dad – all the good times and all the lost time. His imagery viscerally conjures this ascendance and eventual decline. The artist isn’t overly lamenting the situation. He’s still fond of what he had and understanding of what is to come. Things come and go, but we live, we love, and we always remember.
Well. This is totally a personal experience, so I'm not sure if 'interpretation' is the right word.
But here we go.
So, I'm going to a project-based high school right now that's currently not working out for me at all.
It's a very small school. Not many people go there, and the ones that do are fantastic. They feel like family.
Well, basically, the school feels like a second home.
But that doesn't mean I'm doing well in the school. I'm not really learning anything. My grades aren't the best.
I'm switching schools.
It feels like part of my heart is gone. I seriously love everyone there. But I know I can't stay just for the people. After all, a school is for getting an education.
There was a talent show a few days ago.
I sang this for it, as a sort of farewell.
Whenever I hear this song, I can't help but think of it.
I'm obsessed with this sogn.
I have clinical depression. It's kind of hard to have feelings for someone when you have depression, because it's kind of hard to feel anything but emptiness. But I did try, and I think I did a very good job trying.
I built a house out of stone.
I built a house that blocked out the depression. It was fairly strong, and I felt like myself. I felt at home.
But this guy, that I allowed myself to love, did not care for my effort. Didn't really care for me at all, which, of course, I didn't know at the time.
I climbed a tree. I could see it. I could see it fading away. The lie became more visible,
so when the gusts came around to blow me down, I held on as tightly as he held on to me.
He didn't hold on to me.
I fell. I felt seriously low. Everything that I tried to fix became undone.
Now?
It's time to leave, and turn to dust.
To say goodbye.
To go back into the unknown,
and leave the place I called 'home'.
I was in a 5-year relationship. I "built a home". For her. For me. I built a wonderful relationship. I was everything to her and she was more than everything to me. But she started to distance herself, slowly. It's much more painful that way; to see I was slowly losing her. I tried everything in my willpower to understand her and to be there for her and to even let her go when she wanted me to. She cheated on me. But just as she once held on to me so extremely tightly, I was holding on to her for dear life for some reason. I believed she was my life. Who knows if this works again or if it is time to leave and let it all turn to dust.
it also makes me think of a Mandala, being slowly and carefully constructed and then just blown away.. impermanence.
he sounds almost devastated by his new view of life yet he cannot help but feel that way. like he has just stumbled upon some shocking truth.
he has been uprooted, paradigm shift.
this song is beautiful