Come On Up To The House

Album: Mule Variations (1999)
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  • Well, the moon is broken and the sky is cracked
    Come on up to the house
    The only things that you can see is all that you lack
    Come on up to the house

    All your crying don't do no good
    Come on up to the house
    Come down off the cross, we can use the wood
    You gotta come on up to the house

    Come on up to the house
    Come on up to the house
    The world is not my home
    I'm just a-passing through
    You got to come on up to the house

    There's no light in the tunnel, no irons in the fire
    Come on up to the house
    And you're singing lead soprano in a junkman's choir
    You got to come on up to the house

    Does life seem nasty, brutish and short
    Come on up to the house
    The seas are stormy and you can't find no port
    Got to come on up to the house, yeah

    You gotta come on up to the house
    Come on up to the house
    The world is not my home I'm just a-passing through
    You got to come on up to the house, yeah

    You gotta come on up to the house
    Come on up to the house
    The world is not my home
    I'm just a-passing through
    You got to come on up to the house

    There's nothing in the world that you can do
    You gotta come on up to the house
    And you been whipped by the forces that are inside you
    Gotta come on up to the house

    Well, you're high on top of your mountain of woe
    Gotta come on up to the house
    Well, you know you should surrender, but you can't let it go
    You gotta come on up to the house, yeah

    Gotta come on up to the house
    Gotta come on up to the house
    The world is not my home I'm just a-passing through
    You gotta come on up to the house

    Gotta come on up to the house
    You gotta come on up to the house
    Yeah yeah yeah Writer/s: Kathleen Brennan, Thomas Alan Waits
    Publisher: JALMA MUSIC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 3

  • AnonymousThe lyrics "Come down off the cross, we could use the wood" and "There's no light in the tunnel" I believe is a specific rejection of a faith-seeking interpretation of the song. It points the meaning more toward a communal support, "The House" being that community. Life is hard, and it can be difficult to keep going, but a little love and empathy from your fellow travellers can make it just that much easier to go through.
  • AnonymousIt’s about laying your burden down and letting go. When I was getting sober it was all about sobriety… after a divorce it was about letting go and not wallowing in self pity.
  • Author One from Sunset, La.An interesting interpretation of Tom Waits song ‘ Come on up to the house’. The preceding comments at least gives the lyrics of the song some perspective. My take is that the house is not real, but rather a metaphorical reference. The house can refer to a common table where reason can ensue. That metaphorical table allows for reason, different points of view and sober discussion to take place, especially in a disjointed world of hatred, bitterness and divisiveness, to occur. Dr. Martin Luther king said it this way; ‘If we do not learn to live together as brothers, we will together as fools’. This is simply a personal perspective(mine).
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