The Cinematic Orchestra – To Build A Home

"To Build A Home" as written by Patrick Watson, Stella Victoria Page, Jason Swinscoe and Phil France....
There is a house built out of stone
Wooden floors, walls and window sills
Tables and chairs worn by all of the dust
This is a place where I don't feel alone
This is a place where I feel at home

'Cause, I built a home
For you
For me

Until it disappeared
From me
From you

And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust

Out in the garden where we planted the seeds
There is a tree as old as me
Branches were sewn by the color of green
Ground had arose and passed it's knees

By the cracks of the skin I climbed to the top
I climbed the tree to see the world
When the gusts came around to blow me down
I held on as tightly as you held onto me
I held on as tightly as you held onto me

And, I built a home
For you
For me

Until it disappeared
From me
From you

And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust


Lyrics submitted by Jonzard, edited by llamachama

"To Build a Home" as written by Patrick Watson Jason Angus Stoddart Swinscoe

Lyrics © THIRD SIDE MUSIC INC., INTRIGUE MUSIC, LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

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To Build A Home song meanings
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72 Comments

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  • +22
    General Commenta man, his life settled, with others in tow, feels like a solitary figure in a lonely world. then he meets her. she, from the first glance, is strangely like home to him. against the stigma, against the odds, he embraces her. he builds a home away from home with her. he sees the world like never before. he lives. but in his descent, he grasps the details for what they are. entirely real yet unreal. sadness grips him. the road diverges. he stands at the fork with two tragic paths before him. either way, a part of him will leave and turn to dust.
    ahmenon June 08, 2007   Link
    • 2 Replies
  • +19
    General CommentThis is a beautiful song, no doubt, but the second verse in particular is one of the most beautiful uses of imagery I've heard in a long time.

    The tree is quite obviously representative of the writer and, quite frankly, makes me want to plant a tree for my kids if/when I have them.

    The line "branches were sewn by the color green" indicates the tree/writer has grown into a healthy mature being.

    That said, the "cracks of the skin" with which the tree was climbed indicate that the growth experienced has not been without some difficulties/scars. The fact that the tree was climbed by these cracks is very poignant in the sense that we typically learn/grow from our mistakes and, provided we actually learn/grow, this is what allows us to "rise" and see the world.

    The last part of this verse almost brought me to tears when I first heard it simply because of the simplicity of the comparison... hanging on for dear life atop a tree blowing in the wind is very much like hanging on for dear life amidst a dying love. I think we've all been there and I'm not sure I need to say much more.

    Ultimately I think this song stands for the notion that, no matter how solid or stable or satisfying something is (whether it be a house, your beliefs or a relationship), nothing is permanent and no matter how tightly we hold onto things/people, sometimes they disappear anyway. Although it is sad in a certain respect, I think it really speaks more to enjoying the moments we have when we have them without any expectations of permanence. In other words, we can either focus on the tragedy of the fleeting nature of these things; the difficulty of choice between a past life and a new one; or we can focus on the beauty of the moments in which we live and have lived and will continue to live with the knowledge that they too will pass.
    diboon September 17, 2007   Link
    • 6 Replies
  • +7
    General Commentthis song to me represents the impermanence of all things....bittersweet and hauntingly beautiful
    kerrimarie113on May 26, 2010   Link
  • +4
    General Commentwow!! but lame that it was on grey's anatomy
    slinkstersarson December 17, 2007   Link
  • +4
    My OpinionThis song stirs something in me. It’s more than the lyrics; which are beautiful. But the way the artist sings this ballad. His tone is so intimate. The song is sung as though no one is listening, just the artist and his thoughts. I like that.

    In the end though, I think the song is about something simple. To me it makes me think of my Dad — all the good times and all the lost time. His imagery viscerally conjures this ascendance and eventual decline. The artist isn’t overly lamenting the situation. He’s still fond of what he had and understanding of what is to come. Things come and go, but we live, we love, and we always remember.
    Truth2Powron April 05, 2013   Link
  • +4
    My Interpretationto me this song is a description of life. Once you get old enough you realize that you don't belong, that nowhere in this beautiful world do you feel at home. But then you find love and make a home because love is where we belong. But the world allows us to grow old, whither and die, from dust to dust; our home disappears and in time so does our love.
    jdmovieon February 12, 2014   Link
  • +3
    My InterpretationHe built a life with this woman. They constructed their home, nurtured a garden with a tall tree, but then she died. She "turned to dust". She "held on tightly", but she passed away, and now his home is just a home that is empty and his garden is just a garden with tall grassy weeds, and he climbs to the top of that tree that together they saw develop into greatness and looks out at the world, a world without the woman he loves. ... That's just my interpretation. It's a great song for a contemporary dance, though - just saying (:
    stephanieloveson June 22, 2010   Link
    • 2 Replies
  • +3
    My Interpretationthe foundation of life, love, sorrow, not knowing, being a powerless human being, the fragility of once existence and the obscurity of all the above.


    this is what I think of when hearing this song.
    Freyiaon November 21, 2011   Link
  • +2
    General CommentAt the beginning of the song he is describing this house, and it seems like its not that perfect. I think that the "house" represent their love. Their love and relationship is not perfect but, their bond is as strong as stone, and their love and relationship makes him feel happy and "at home". Next, he says, "Cause I built a home for you and for me". I feel like at this part he is trying to say that he has built the walls of love for him and for her. Then he says, "until it disappeared from you, from me". What he is trying to say here is that something unfortunate has happened and they will no longer be together anymore which leads to "And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust" which in my opinion means that it is time to leave the past and let his love for her turn to dust. It then says that out in the garden they planted a seed, i think by seed, they mean the seed of life, love and family. Then in the song it says that he climbs the tree to see the world, and to me that means that he is climbing out of his sadness and depression and looking out into his future, but then the "gusts came around to blow him down", which I think means that the memories of his beloved are coming back to him and trying to knock him down off the tree and back down to his sadness and depression, but instead he held on tight and held onto his future like she and him held onto their love. Then again, he says that he built a home a home for him and for her, until it disappeared from them, and then its says and now, it's time to leave and turn to dust, this all means what I said at the top.....in my opinion it means that he built his love, then something happened with their relationship, and now he leaves and waits for their love to turn to dust.
    foreverandon April 30, 2013   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • +1
    General Commentlove love love this song.

    okay this is cheesy but i live in the country and i always go out to the fields and drive by and play this song...its relaxing and helps me think about things.
    julie_wulieon April 12, 2008   Link

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