Dialing in a forgotten voice
(coming in like waves rolling off the coast)
Sweeping through illegal ports
(rising from the depths falling off the tongue)
Ships drifting out of tune
(coming in like waves rolling off the coast)

Many, many more, sculpting the shoreline
Etching the harbor and the people
Who've stayed afloat

(coming in like waves rolling off the coast)
Dialing in a forgotten voice
(rising from the depths falling off the tongue)
Sweeping through illegal ports
(coming in like waves rolling off the coast)
Ships drifting out of tune
(can't stop the waves coming like a ghost)

Is that your shape in the foam of the sea
After all these years coming home to me

La Chascona (hearts to ocean) vows unbroken
Lying in the bath fully clothed
Ready for the ocean's wake
The tears won't wash away
What her eyes can't erase

Not safe to say in her native tongue
A radio voice drowning out
The general's song lingering on
A raft made of books from a driftwood house
Returns to the waves


Lyrics submitted by bocmaxima

House of Valparaiso Lyrics as written by John Burns Joey Burns

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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House of Valparaiso song meanings
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    General Comment

    Very surprised this wasn't already submitted. One of Calexico's prettier songs. There are lots of Neruda references, including La Chascona (I had to look that up) and the various allusions to the sea. But I think, overall, there's a lot about immigration in here, particularly with the "illegal ports" reference.

    bocmaximaon May 06, 2010   Link

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