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Well I looked into a house I once lived in
Around the time I first went on my own
When the roads were as many as
The places I had dreamed of
And my friends and I were one
Now the distance is done and the search has begun
I've come to see where my beginnings have gone
Oh the walls and the windows were still standing
And the music could be heard at the door
Where the people who kindly endured my odd questions
Asked if I came very far
And when my silence replied they took me inside
Where their children sat playing on the floor
Well we spoke of the changes
That would find us farther on
And it left me so warm and so high
But as I stepped back outside
To the grey morning sun
I heard that highway whisper and sigh
Are you ready to fly
And I looked into the faces all passing by
It's an ocean that will never be filled
And the house that grows older and finally crumbles
That even love cannot rebuild
It's a hotel at best, you're here as a guest
You oughta make yourself at home
While you're waiting for the rest
Well I looked into dream of the millions
That one day the search will be through
Now here I stand at the edge of
My embattled illusions
Looking into you
The great song traveler passed through here
And he opened my eyes to the view
And I was among those who called him a prophet
And I asked him what was true
Until the distance had shown
How the road remains alone
Now I'm looking in my life
For a truth that is my own
Well I looked into the sky for my anthem
And the words and the music came through
But words and music will never touch
The beauty that I've seen
Looking into you and that's true
Around the time I first went on my own
When the roads were as many as
The places I had dreamed of
And my friends and I were one
Now the distance is done and the search has begun
I've come to see where my beginnings have gone
Oh the walls and the windows were still standing
And the music could be heard at the door
Where the people who kindly endured my odd questions
Asked if I came very far
And when my silence replied they took me inside
Where their children sat playing on the floor
Well we spoke of the changes
That would find us farther on
And it left me so warm and so high
But as I stepped back outside
To the grey morning sun
I heard that highway whisper and sigh
Are you ready to fly
And I looked into the faces all passing by
It's an ocean that will never be filled
And the house that grows older and finally crumbles
That even love cannot rebuild
It's a hotel at best, you're here as a guest
You oughta make yourself at home
While you're waiting for the rest
Well I looked into dream of the millions
That one day the search will be through
Now here I stand at the edge of
My embattled illusions
Looking into you
The great song traveler passed through here
And he opened my eyes to the view
And I was among those who called him a prophet
And I asked him what was true
Until the distance had shown
How the road remains alone
Now I'm looking in my life
For a truth that is my own
Well I looked into the sky for my anthem
And the words and the music came through
But words and music will never touch
The beauty that I've seen
Looking into you and that's true
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This is, as the lyrics suggest, about the house Jackson Browne grew up in. According to him (at the 2002 Appel Farms music festival in southern NJ) it was a house that had been built by his grandfather, and his family moved there when he was a teenager. It was a huge and bizarre stone house - including a dungeon in the basement - and it held a lot of nostalgia for him. Like a lot of Jackson Browne songs, there's not a ton of hidden meanings in here. Most of the sentiments are obvious. But that's a little background on the house itself.