Miranda Lambert's "House" Takes Me Back Home
If a childhood home can build you, I think that maybe a song can write you. At least that's how I feel when I listen to Miranda Lambert's latest single, "The House That Built Me." When she sings these words about going back home, it sounds like the lyrics wrote her. Or maybe they just wrote themselves. Either way, she does an excellent job of portraying a woman who got a little lost and needs to reconnect with her past.
One of the co-writers of the tune, Allen Shamblin, says that he likes to go back to the house where he grew up in Huffman, Texas, at least once a year. "I'll go by our old house and kinda get recalibrated," he says in this performance of the song at a Puckett's in Nashville. And when Lambert sings it, in that whispery voice she can always pull off so well, you get the sense that she has done the same thing. Maybe not literally. But even if you go back to your childhood home in a theoretical way, I'll bet you can heal the brokenness inside you and maybe you can find yourself.
Lambert paints this picture of handprints on the front steps, and a bedroom where she did homework and played guitar, and a yard where she buried her favorite dog. It's all so vivid that it takes me back to the house that built me. And the one I live in now, that's building my own kids -- the one where they wrote their names with sticks in the fresh cement sidewalk, and where their heights have been documented on the back of a closet door for the past 14 years. This song reminds me that when they leave home for good, all they'll take with them are memories, so I'd better make some really good ones.
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SJB says:
This is probably the best song on the entire album. And the entire album is phenomenal.
trink says:
I love this song.
LeAnn says:
This is one of the best songs at radio right now. I’m so glad Miranda is finally getting the airplay she deserves. In just two weeks, her current single is charting higher than some of her past singles peaked. I hope this becomes another big hit for Miranda, and I’m sure it will.
Robin says:
Take note Taylor Swift. Miranda’s songwriting has more depth in one line than the entire “Fearless” album.
Sis says:
I love this song. Lol, nice one Robin.
Ricky says:
How nice of you to bring up someone else in a Miranda blog. Loser. Your obsession precedes you. It seems that Blake cannot afford the wedding ring Miranda has chosen, therefore refraining him from his proposal. Isn’t love wonderful?
S says:
And how nice of you to make up a story about Blake not being able to afford the wedding ring that Miranda chose. I read the blog twice and sure didn’t read that anywhere…
nedski says:
congrats, robin. you’re mentioned on “quotable country” for 3/14…
Robin says:
nedski - what are you talking about? Is that on CMT.com?
.AngieBaby. says:
I love the album and this is one of my top songs from it! Amazing song…and really nice blog.
karadward says:
I love this song although it makes me cry like a baby. My parents are getting ready to sell the house that I grew up in, and I’m kinda havin’ a rough time with it. It’s odd that this song would come out at this time. It describes exactly how I feel right now. Seems like it was written just for me, especially the part about the handprints on the front steps and the favorite dog buried under the oak tree. Makes me soooo sad, but still a great song!
Janette says:
Miranda didn’t write the song. It’s one of the few on the album she didn’t write or cowrite. It’s a beautiful song though and props to her for cutting it.