She asked me, "Son, when I grow old
Will you buy me a house of gold?
And when your father turns to stone
Will you take care of me?"
She asked me, "Son, when I grow old
Will you buy me a house of gold?
And when your father turns to stone
Will you take care of me?"
I will make you queen of everything you see
I'll put you on the map, I'll cure you of disease

Let's say we up and left this town
And turned our future upside down
We'll make pretend that you and me
Lived ever after happily

She asked me, "Son, when I grow old
Will you buy me a house of gold?
And when your father turns to stone
Will you take care of me?"
I will make you queen of everything you see
I'll put you on the map, I'll cure you of disease

Oh, and since we know that dreams are dead
And life turns plans up on their head
I will plan to be a bum
So I just might become someone

She asked me, "Son, when I grow old
Will you buy me a house of gold?
And when your father turns to stone
Will you take care of me?"
I will make you queen of everything you see
I'll put you on the map, I'll cure you of disease


Lyrics submitted by bookhouseboy23

House of Gold Lyrics as written by Tyler Joseph

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

House of Gold song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

26 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +8
    My Interpretation

    This song is from the perspective of a man whose mother is thinking about what will happen to her when her husband dies. It is possible that she contemplates this as her husband is dying. (If there is any doubt that she is saying "when your father turns to stone", take into consideration that "stone" could be referring to his tombstone.) When the man promises all of these things to his mother, it is more of a romantic idea of promising someone anything they desire simply to please them, regardless of whether or not they can really fulfill their promises. It's more of a desperate promise to show the direness of the situation. (This point is further illustrated when he says "pretend" {"Let's say we up and left this town/ And turned our future upside down/ We'll make pretend that you and me/ Live ever after happily"}.) The next part can be confusing, but is probably best explained through the music video to this song. In the music video, the singer and the drummer (who make up the entirety of Twenty One Pilots) are simply the top half of bodies, the lower half torn off (supposedly by some machinery accident {implied by a bloody machine in a field next to the main singer}). As the singer sings this song, it is implied that he is the son. And seeing that he is torn in half, he is unable to keep his promise (further illustrating the idea of a desperate, unfulfillable promise). TAKING ALL OF THIS INTO CONSIDERATION, the next lines ("And since we know that dreams are dead/ And life turns plans up on their head/ I will plan to be a bum/ So I just might become someone") make a bit more sense. The singer is acknowledging that his dream of helping his mother once his father passes is unrealized, as he is dead too. (I am not certain I understand the "bum" reference, but I assume he means that it is just more hopeless acceptance of his and her dire situation; he is basically accepting failure.)

    jacksonroycon November 06, 2013   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Holiday
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday". I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.