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Mansion On the Hill Lyrics
There's a place out on the edge of town sir
Risin' above the factories and the fields
Now ever since I was a child I can remember that mansion on the hill
In the day you can see the children playing
On the road that leads to those gates of hardened steel
Steel gates that completely surround sir the mansion on the hill
At night my daddy'd take me and we'd ride through the streets of a town so silent and still
Park on a back road along the highway side
Look up at that mansion on the hill
In the summer all the lights would shine there'd be music playin' people laughin' all the time
Me and my sister we'd hide out in the tall corn fields
Sit and listen to the mansion on the hill
Tonight down here in Linden Town I watch the cars rushin' by home from the mill
There's a beautiful full moon rising above the mansion on the hill
Risin' above the factories and the fields
Now ever since I was a child I can remember that mansion on the hill
On the road that leads to those gates of hardened steel
Steel gates that completely surround sir the mansion on the hill
Park on a back road along the highway side
Look up at that mansion on the hill
Me and my sister we'd hide out in the tall corn fields
Sit and listen to the mansion on the hill
There's a beautiful full moon rising above the mansion on the hill
Song Info
Submitted by
oofus On Jun 05, 2004
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it's about the haves and have-nots in life. those who have look down on the rest of the world from their place on the hill. those who have not "look up" at the others with a sense of awe. unfortunately for the have-nots, the "steel gate" ensures that each party stays put.
Pretty sure this song is about dreams. From a poor perspective, dreaming one day of being rich, living in the mansion on the hill. This whole album more or less is like the dark side of born to run. The "What if's"
Born to Run is saturated with hope for the future, a chance to break out based upon artistic merit and a lottery ticket like rise to fame via music.
This album is more or less like what it is to not break out, or to turn to crime due to lack of a way. With the same hopes and dreams of being someone, being wealthy, getting out.
no one expresses growing up like the boss
mansion on the hill could be a biblical refrence too. maybe?
Superb song,the Live in NYC version is amazing.
that live album is very good i agree...this is a nice quiet song about dreaming about becoming better than what you are...great song though
that live album is very good i agree...this is a nice quiet song about dreaming about becoming better than what you are...great song though
Not really any deep meaning to this song. This is from Springsteen's album "Nebraska" and is about Mansion on the Hill, a historic house in Ogallala, NE. http://www.ogallalamansiononthehill.com/
In the live version of "Mansion on the Hill" from Shoreline Amphitheatre 86, Springsteen mention that the song is about when he was a kid and his father used to drive them out to this old house on the outside of town that felt really distant to Bruce.
In the book "Bruce" from 2012 by Carlin, it says that Bruce around 1970 took his girlfriend out to a family-meeting at Bruce´s grandfather Zerelli´s house, which they referred to as "the house on the hill". The lyrics also includes a sister which suggests it is Bruce´s sister. Later in the book there is a confirmation of this: "Recollections of a summertime party in “Mansion on the Hill” (the name clearly reminiscent of Anthony Zerilli’s House on the Hill) filter through the stalks of corn where the uninvited young narrator hides with his sister to take in the music and lights."
Although this probably isn't true I like to think of the song in reference to the film Days of Heaven. I heard the title track was based off of the Starkweather murders after Bruce saw Badlands. Days of Heaven is a film by the same writer/director Terrence Malick. If you have seen the film the line
Me and my sister, we'd hide out in the tall cornfields Sit and listen to the mansion on the hill
May strike a chord
The two main character pretend to be brother and sisters while farming a wheat field, the woman than becomes romantic with the farm owner
Someone also stated that the song is about the poor desiring what the rich have, this is also a common theme of the film.
Any thoughts
Nebraska's an amazing album by the Boss. this one's about spending a lifetime looking and wondering how some people have it all and no matter how hard you work, you will never do.