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"
This is the house that Jack built, y'all
Remember this house!
This was the land that he worked by hand
It was the dream of an upright man
There was the room that was filled with love
It was a love that I was proud of
This was a life of a love he planned
On a love the same ol' love
In the house that Jack built
(The house that Jack built)
Remember this house!
There was the fence that held our love (yes it was)
There was the gate that he walked out of
This is the heart that is turned to stone (yes it is)
This was the house, but it ain't no home
This is the love that I once had
In a dream that I thought was love
In the house that Jack built (the house that Jack built)
I'm gonn' remember this house!
Oh-ohh wha-a-at is the use of crying?
You know I brought it on myself
There's no denying
But it see-e-ee-ems awful funny
That I didn't understand
Was it a house of an upright man?
Up on the hill
There's a big plan still
In the house that Jack built
(The house that Jack built)
I'm gonn' remember this house
(The house that Jack built)
Listen!
I got the house
I got the car
I got the rug
And I got the rack
But I ain't got Jack (Jack)
(I ain't got Jack, Jack)
And I want my Jack back!
I turned my back on Jack
He said he wasn't coming back
I turned my back on Jack
He said he wasn't coming back
Ohhh, Jack
Ohh! Come on back
Ohh Jack
Oh come on back
You oughtta come on back (Come on back, Jack)
To the one that you built (Come on back, Jack)
It's the same one you built (Come on back, Jack)
You oughtta come on back (Come on back, Jack)
Oh come back
Come on, come on, come on
I didn't understand
Until I lost my upright man
Come on back, Jack (Come on back, Jack)
Remember this house!
This was the land that he worked by hand
It was the dream of an upright man
There was the room that was filled with love
It was a love that I was proud of
This was a life of a love he planned
On a love the same ol' love
In the house that Jack built
(The house that Jack built)
Remember this house!
There was the fence that held our love (yes it was)
There was the gate that he walked out of
This is the heart that is turned to stone (yes it is)
This was the house, but it ain't no home
This is the love that I once had
In a dream that I thought was love
In the house that Jack built (the house that Jack built)
I'm gonn' remember this house!
Oh-ohh wha-a-at is the use of crying?
You know I brought it on myself
There's no denying
But it see-e-ee-ems awful funny
That I didn't understand
Was it a house of an upright man?
Up on the hill
There's a big plan still
In the house that Jack built
(The house that Jack built)
I'm gonn' remember this house
(The house that Jack built)
Listen!
I got the house
I got the car
I got the rug
And I got the rack
But I ain't got Jack (Jack)
(I ain't got Jack, Jack)
And I want my Jack back!
I turned my back on Jack
He said he wasn't coming back
I turned my back on Jack
He said he wasn't coming back
Ohhh, Jack
Ohh! Come on back
Ohh Jack
Oh come on back
You oughtta come on back (Come on back, Jack)
To the one that you built (Come on back, Jack)
It's the same one you built (Come on back, Jack)
You oughtta come on back (Come on back, Jack)
Oh come back
Come on, come on, come on
I didn't understand
Until I lost my upright man
Come on back, Jack (Come on back, Jack)
Lyrics submitted by Shoot_Me, edited by goodnews, Deepdiving
The House That Jack Built Lyrics as written by Fran Robins Bobby Lance
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Sentric Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I submitted a lyric correction. The entire meaning of the song as Aretha sings it is that she "toyed with love" and now she's sorry. I hear the lyrics this way:
This is a house that Jack built, y'all Remember this house! This was the land that he worked by hand It was the dream of an upright man There was a room that was filled with love It was a love that I was proud of This is a life and a love that he planned Of a love, the same old love Of the house that Jack built. Remember this house! There was a fence that held our love, There was a gate that he walked out of This is the heart it is turned to stone This is a house, but it ain't no home This is the love that I destroyed On the day that I toyed with love, In the house that Jack built, I'm gonn' remember this house! Oh oh what's the use of crying? You know I brought it on myself There's no denying But it seems awful funny That I didn't understand Until I lost my upright man Up on the hill Everything stands still In the house that Jack built I’m gonn' remember this house Listen! I got the house I got the car I got the rug And I got the rack But I ain't got Jack And I want my Jack back! I turned my back on Jack He said he wasn't coming back I turned my back on Jack He said he wasn't coming back Oh, Jack You oughta come on back Oh Jack You oughtha come on back To the one that you built It’s the same one that that you built You oughtha come on back I didn't understand until I lost an upright man Come on back Jack
It's such a great song, a real perfect track!
@Deepdiving You're correct, you've given the right lyrics.
The song was first recorded by Thelma Jones. There are some minor differences between her version and Aretha's. youtube.com/watch