“The House That Built Me” is a song written by Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin. It was sung by Miranda Lambert, a country music artist from the United States. Originally, Blake Shelton was supposed to record the song, but when Miranda Lambert heard it, she was deeply moved by the lyrics and decided to record it herself.
The song is about looking back at the home where you grew up and how it played a big part in shaping who you are today. In the song, the female narrator goes back to her childhood home as an adult. She asks the current owner if she can go inside and take a trip down memory lane. She calls it “the house that built her” because of all the memories she has from growing up there.
Allen Shamblin, one of the songwriters, drew inspiration from his own experiences of visiting the house he grew up in, located in Huffman, Texas, at least once a year.
In this article, we’ll analyze the meaning behind the lyrics.
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Inspiration Behind “The House That Built Me”
In an interview with The Boot, Co-writer Allen Shamblin talked about the inspiration behind this song:
“The song was originally written probably six or seven years ago. We were at Sundance [Film Festival] in Utah doing some writer shows for the Bluebird Café in conjunction with Sundance. I had the title for the song, and I ran it by Tom.
We started talking about the idea. When you co-write a song, you each dig into your own heart for where you’re coming from. The inspiration for me was the last ten years or so with having my own children. I often think about the neighborhood and the house that my father built that I grew up in.
About two Novembers ago, Tom contacted me on the phone. He said, ‘Hey, let’s revisit this song.’ We finally got back together to work out some of the holes, and the song really came into focus then. People really responded to the new version.”
“The House That Built Me” Lyrics Meaning
[Verse 1]
I know they say, “You can’t go home again”
I just had to come back one last time
Ma’am, I know you don’t know me from Adam
But these hand prints on the front steps are mine
Up those stairs, in that little back bedroom
Is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar
And I bet you didn’t know under that live oak
My favorite dog is buried in the yard
In Verse 1, the narrator expresses a strong desire to revisit her childhood home.
She acknowledges the common saying that you can’t return home, but she feels a compelling need to go back one last time.
The singer tells the current owner (whom she calls her “Ma’am”) of the house that even though she doesn’t know her, the handprints on the front steps belong to her from when she was a child.
She describes memories of her childhood, such as doing homework and learning to play the guitar in the little back bedroom.
The singer also reveals that her favorite dog is buried in the yard beneath a live oak tree.
[Chorus]
I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself
If I could just come in, I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me
In the chorus, the singer reflects on her hope that revisiting her childhood home will help heal the brokenness she feels inside.
She expresses that being at the house makes her feel like a different person, and she believes that returning there might help her rediscover herself.
In the lines “If I could just come in, I swear I’ll leave Won’t take nothing but a memory, From the house that built me,” is asking the current owner of her childhood home for the opportunity to enter the house one last time.
She promises that she won’t take anything from the house, but memories. She wants to visit the house to relive the past and reconnect with her emotions associated with the place where she grew up.
[Verse 2]
Mama cut out pictures of houses for years
From ‘Better Homes and Garden’ magazine
Plans were drawn and concrete poured
Nail by nail and board by board
Daddy gave life to Mama’s dream
In Verse 2, the singer recalls her memories about the old home. Her mom used to cut out pictures of houses from magazines like ‘Better Homes and Gardens’ for years. The family made plans, poured concrete, and built the house nail by nail and board by board. The narrator mentions that her dad played a crucial role in bringing her mom’s dream house to life.
[Bridge]
You leave home, you move on and you do the best you can
I got lost in this whole world and forgot who I am
In the Bridge, the narrator reflects on the idea of leaving home and moving on with life. She acknowledges the common experience of getting caught up in the world and losing sight of one’s true self. It’s a moment of introspection where she realizes how she had become disconnected from her roots.
This part of the song suggests that revisiting her childhood home is her way of finding a sense of identity and reconnecting with the person she used to be.
Deeper Meaning Behind “The House That Built Me”
“The House That Built Me” is a touching reminder of the powerful emotional ties we have to our childhood homes and how revisiting them can provide a sense of comfort, closure, and a rekindling of lost aspects of our identity.
The song’s lyrics tell the story of a female narrator who, as an adult, feels a deep longing to revisit the house where she grew up. The house represents more than just a physical structure; it’s a symbol of the formative years and memories that have shaped her identity.
The lyrics express a strong desire to reconnect with those memories, to touch the past, and to find healing and self-discovery in the familiar spaces of the home, as she sings, “I thought that maybe I could find myself, If I could just come in, I swear I’ll leave, Won’t take nothing but a memory, From the house that built me.”
The lines about the mother’s dream and the father’s contribution in building the house underscore the family’s significance in the narrator’s life.
Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin received the Song of the Year award at the 2010 CMA Awards for this song. After the ceremony, Shamblin talked about his own childhood home and what inspired the song:
“For years I have wondered what it would be like to go knock on the door and go back in and see where I used to sneak out the back window and see where I learned to play my guitar. This song is about wondering what it would be like to go back to where I grew up.”
Lambert also commented on what this song meant to her:
“That’s another one of those songs where I think, ‘Dang it, why didn’t I think of that?’ Everybody’s had that comfortable home place – or maybe even a person – that made you who you are, but that you can’t ever really go back to. I grew up on an old dairy farm in the country.
We had older ladies knock on the door all the time and ask if they could come in because they were raised there, or their husband lived there when they got married… so many different stories. My mom would give them tea, and I’d sit there and listen to them tell the story about our house.
And now I know the people that live there. I would be really sad if I could never go back there again… because our dog is buried in the yard, and there are just so many memories. I heard this song and I cried for two hours. When a song hits you like that, you know it’s gonna affect other people the same way.”
The song is called “The House That Built Me” because it symbolizes the idea that one’s childhood home plays a significant role in shaping who they become as a person. The word “built” in the title refers to the emotional and psychological foundation that the house provided during the formative years of the narrator’s life.
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