You're My Home

If memory serves, he was on his way home one evening on the subway when he remembered it was his anniversary. He reached into his pocket and he pulled out 3 dollars and change and half a pack of cigarettes. Stopping to buy a gift was obviously out of the question so he picked up a piece of paper off the floor of the train and borrowed a pen from a lady who was also on the subway and wrote the song in roughly 38 blocks before his stop. When he got home, he sang the song to her. That's the account he gave on a A&E special he did many years ago.

As for the "pleasure dome" choice, it isn't as stark and out of place when you consider the preceding lines... "You're my castle, you're my cabin, you're my instant pleasure dome..." The comparison and contrast between a castle and a cabin serves to iterate the adage that a man's home is his castle and as such, no matter what structure happens to be that castle, it is his place of solace, his retreat, his dome of pleasure. To me, he very cleverly utilizes the moniker in a quite fitting way. His firm grasp of the English language has served him well over the years by allowing him to write songs about almost everything BUT the typical love and romance, you and me, love story from which so very many songs are derived. Captain Jack, Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway) and We Didn't Start The Fire just to name a few are evidence of his depth and intellect which he employs well in his songwriting.

"You're my home", IMHO, is the greatest compliment you could give your life partner, spouse, significant other, etc. But hey.... I'm no expert. That's just my opinion.

Have you guys ever thought "instant pleasure Dome" could mean when you are around the person they bring joy to your life? think about it.

I believe this was written as a present for Billy's first wife, Elizabeth (there is more info in the Songs in the Attic liner notes). I love the sentiment in the song, but I must admit that I hate the lyric "my instant pleasure dome."

yeah, "instant pleasure dome" is cringe-inducing. it sounds like the name of something you'd find in an "adult" toy store. Beautiful song aside from one lyric =D

Haha. Nice to know I'm not alone on hating "instant pleasure dome". Why couldn't he have used something like "and no matter where I roam"?

Everything's better than "instant pleasure dome". It's really awful. Sometimes I think he says "instant pleasure doll" when the recording isn't the best or when he mumbles. That kinda destroys the emotion of this song.

Except for this line this song is great. Very emotional and obviously for someone he loved, probably his wife.

I dont think its that bad of a lyric. If this song was written for someone, it could have been a little inside joke they had.

In reference to "instant pleasure dome"

If you read this and your mind goes immediately to the gutter don't put that negativity on this song. Climb out for a minute and sit on your front steps, grab a dictionary and use your brain. Since you may or may not own a dictionary I'll help some ..

Definition of pleasure from dictionary.com —noun

1. the state or feeling of being pleased.
2. enjoyment or satisfaction derived from what is to one's liking; gratification; delight.
3. worldly or frivolous enjoyment: the pursuit of pleasure.
4. recreation or amusement; diversion; enjoyment: Are you traveling on business or for pleasure?
5. sensual gratification.
6. a cause or source of enjoyment or delight: It was a pleasure to see you.
7. pleasurable quality: the pleasure of his company.

8. one's will, desire, or choice: to make known one's pleasure.

Nowhere in the definition of pleasure does it refer to sexual delights although sex is quite pleasurable! FYI: sensual is different word with a different meaning than sexual (i know they are very similar spelling wise)

Prior to "Instant pleasure dome" the lyric is "You're my castle, you're my cabin". Used in context dome would be considered a structure as it is defined. A castle is a structure of great security traditionally housing kings and nobles. A cabin is a place of comfort and security as well. A dome would be something that wraps around in a full 360 degree such as the sky or constructed dome either way it surrounds you in a smoother way ... maybe more sensual and femininely beautiful than a castle. Thus it could ... should be interpreted more of "instant pleasure surroundings" ... dome cleverly goes with the whole structure theme and is really spot on lyrically if you stop being perverse.

Furthermore I'm fairly certain someone of his song writing ability would just throw in a stupid line referring to a cheap sounding sexual pleasure or as one comment suggest masturbation (not sure if that person has a grasp on the English language though)

As per 'instant pleasure dome', I saw it as him listing historical periods of homes.

Castle - medieval Cabin - 19th Century-present Instant Pleasure Dome - home of the future?

It's just what I thought when I first heard it.

I guess I don't really see why we should pull our heads out of "the gutter" in order to interpret the lyric. This is the fellow who wrote "Only the Good Die Young," and also "Captain Jack." He's comfortable mentioning sex directly sometimes and he's content to do so implicitly others. Both are fine, as far as I'm concerned.

It could be referring to something like a futuristic building in which one experiences instantaneous delights via virtual reality technology be they sexual or gastric or what-have-you. It could also be referring to the line from Coleridge's Kublai Khan in which case it's the same thing, minus the technology and mostly sexual.

Personally, I don't mind deviations from the archetype of "classy" romance in my love songs. It's based loosely off of late Romantic fads, which is rather funny both because that was a long time ago and because it would be silly to assume all the flowery language of Byron was never intended to conflate, by way of example, roses with vaginas.

Other than that line, it's straight out of a cheesy but heart-felt John Denver song right down to the guitar riff and the vocal affectation (I would be surprised if this isn't an intentional reference because it's so uncannily like Denver's singing voice and musical style). Cheesy is nice sometimes, but I would be quite sad if people's main objection to this song is that it doesn't have enough cheesiness and Platonic tint.

One of my favorite love songs is The Book of Love by the Magnetic Fields. It's playful, it's sardonic, and it's still beautiful in it's own way. It's not the best example because the only sexual reference is a bit sly, but it's a good song so I have no regrets. :P

But if I wanted to list examples of pop and rock songs that talk about sex, even if I just narrowed it down to songs that are supposed to be interpreted as romantic ... I'd be here all week. And that's a good thing. Because most people who write love songs for other people aren't pining at balcony windows. Sex is part of it for a lot of singers in love, why not for our love songs?