What is it like to leave a place you love, experience life, but realize that you are not fulfilled? Even more so, what do you do when you return home to rediscover yourself but all you encounter are the memories that echo your brokenness?
Throughout the verses of this song, Miranda introduces the occupant of her old house to its history, while switching to her current struggles in the chorus. She starts with a brief introduction of the house and then ventures to more specifics once inside. The climax of the song hits when she realizes that she has done the best she could in life but has managed to lose herself along the way. Her current attempt to rediscover herself is evident in the visit to her old home.
The great thing about great songs is that they can have different meanings to different people. Songs can also have varying meanings for the same person, depending on their life stage and point of view. I find this to be the case with “The House that Built Me.” When I first heard this song, I thought of when I left home for college and a professional career. I often thought of what it would be like to go back and if I would find restoration of the sadness that I experienced with leaving home for school.
However, after listening to the song again, I have discovered another meaning that relates loosely to the “Parable of the Prodigal Son” in the Bible (Luke 15:11-31). This parable describes a son that leaves home, squanders his wealth, experiences heartache and poverty in his attempt to live on his own, and then eventually returns home to his family. Similar to the parable, Miranda sings about how “you leave home, you move on, and you do the best you can.” Like the prodigal son, there was a realization in Miranda’s song about how in doing what she thought was best, she “got lost in this old world” and forgot herself. In the song, however, she returns to a home occupied by another, and no mention is made of where the family is. While listeners may not know the specific reasons for leaving, there is a bittersweet perspective given when visiting her old home. While the prodigal son was able to reconcile with his family, the main character in this song was not as fortunate during her visit.
This particular view of the song reminded me that there will be a moment when it may be too late to receive restoration in the way we may desire. There is an appreciation for one’s past and a longing to be made well again, and it is through this that we find an emphasis on not postponing healing. The song leaves me questioning where will she go after her visit? What type of healing was she able to experience? In her taking “nothing but a memory,” did she not find the repair that her heart needed?
Yeah that's kinda what I love about this song; it doesn't really leave you with the assurance that she found what she was looking for. It ends on the same bittersweet note that it starts with. It's depressing in a way, but also kind of cathartic. It's an outlet for feelings of loss and sadness. And also I wanted to tell you that that's an interesting connection to the parable of the Prodigal Son that you mentioned. That's one of my very favorite of Christ's parables in the Bible.
Yeah that's kinda what I love about this song; it doesn't really leave you with the assurance that she found what she was looking for. It ends on the same bittersweet note that it starts with. It's depressing in a way, but also kind of cathartic. It's an outlet for feelings of loss and sadness. And also I wanted to tell you that that's an interesting connection to the parable of the Prodigal Son that you mentioned. That's one of my very favorite of Christ's parables in the Bible.
This song is great and pretty much describes me too and along with are whole family. My siblings, my parents, and I all spent our time in our old house; we all grew up together there. My brother got married, moved out of the house, then we moved to a better house. Then my sister moved out and got married and now I believe it's time for me, which moving on is probably the hardest thing ever for me.
This song is great and pretty much describes me too and along with are whole family. My siblings, my parents, and I all spent our time in our old house; we all grew up together there. My brother got married, moved out of the house, then we moved to a better house. Then my sister moved out and got married and now I believe it's time for me, which moving on is probably the hardest thing ever for me.
We had the best dog ever at our old house, but she passed before she could live in our new house. That house I lived in built me and all the things we did there while growing up will be nothing, but a memory.
What is it like to leave a place you love, experience life, but realize that you are not fulfilled? Even more so, what do you do when you return home to rediscover yourself but all you encounter are the memories that echo your brokenness?
Throughout the verses of this song, Miranda introduces the occupant of her old house to its history, while switching to her current struggles in the chorus. She starts with a brief introduction of the house and then ventures to more specifics once inside. The climax of the song hits when she realizes that she has done the best she could in life but has managed to lose herself along the way. Her current attempt to rediscover herself is evident in the visit to her old home.
The great thing about great songs is that they can have different meanings to different people. Songs can also have varying meanings for the same person, depending on their life stage and point of view. I find this to be the case with “The House that Built Me.” When I first heard this song, I thought of when I left home for college and a professional career. I often thought of what it would be like to go back and if I would find restoration of the sadness that I experienced with leaving home for school.
However, after listening to the song again, I have discovered another meaning that relates loosely to the “Parable of the Prodigal Son” in the Bible (Luke 15:11-31). This parable describes a son that leaves home, squanders his wealth, experiences heartache and poverty in his attempt to live on his own, and then eventually returns home to his family. Similar to the parable, Miranda sings about how “you leave home, you move on, and you do the best you can.” Like the prodigal son, there was a realization in Miranda’s song about how in doing what she thought was best, she “got lost in this old world” and forgot herself. In the song, however, she returns to a home occupied by another, and no mention is made of where the family is. While listeners may not know the specific reasons for leaving, there is a bittersweet perspective given when visiting her old home. While the prodigal son was able to reconcile with his family, the main character in this song was not as fortunate during her visit.
This particular view of the song reminded me that there will be a moment when it may be too late to receive restoration in the way we may desire. There is an appreciation for one’s past and a longing to be made well again, and it is through this that we find an emphasis on not postponing healing. The song leaves me questioning where will she go after her visit? What type of healing was she able to experience? In her taking “nothing but a memory,” did she not find the repair that her heart needed?
Yeah that's kinda what I love about this song; it doesn't really leave you with the assurance that she found what she was looking for. It ends on the same bittersweet note that it starts with. It's depressing in a way, but also kind of cathartic. It's an outlet for feelings of loss and sadness. And also I wanted to tell you that that's an interesting connection to the parable of the Prodigal Son that you mentioned. That's one of my very favorite of Christ's parables in the Bible.
Yeah that's kinda what I love about this song; it doesn't really leave you with the assurance that she found what she was looking for. It ends on the same bittersweet note that it starts with. It's depressing in a way, but also kind of cathartic. It's an outlet for feelings of loss and sadness. And also I wanted to tell you that that's an interesting connection to the parable of the Prodigal Son that you mentioned. That's one of my very favorite of Christ's parables in the Bible.
This song is great and pretty much describes me too and along with are whole family. My siblings, my parents, and I all spent our time in our old house; we all grew up together there. My brother got married, moved out of the house, then we moved to a better house. Then my sister moved out and got married and now I believe it's time for me, which moving on is probably the hardest thing ever for me.
This song is great and pretty much describes me too and along with are whole family. My siblings, my parents, and I all spent our time in our old house; we all grew up together there. My brother got married, moved out of the house, then we moved to a better house. Then my sister moved out and got married and now I believe it's time for me, which moving on is probably the hardest thing ever for me.
We had the best dog ever at our old house, but she passed before she could live in our new house. That house I lived in built me and all the things we did there while growing up will be nothing, but a memory.