My Happy for the Day: "Home"

I can’t remember the first time I heard Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros‘ “Home,” but it was fairly recently. I’m pretty sure it was on a TV show or a commercial — I’d heard it and liked it but had no idea who sang the song. It was catchy — complete with whistling — and had this comforting, almost retro feel, like the best way to do the song justice would be to listen to it on vinyl. And how could I forget the way the song began, with the drawling “Alabama, Arkansas / I do love my ma and pa …”? Then the other day my sis-in-law, K, told us we just had to hear this CD her friend gave her: “I’m skipping right to my favorite track, number six.” Mystery solved! And thus my fascination with Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros was born. The video is pitch-perfect in that its home-movie feel perfectly complements the folksiness of the song. And, like the song, it leaves me feeling happy.

Lyrics:
[Her:] Alabama, Arkansas /
I do love my ma and pa / Not the way that I do love you.

[Him:] Holy, Moley, me, oh my / You’re the apple of my eye / Girl I’ve never loved one like you.

[Her:] Man oh man you’re my best friend / I scream it to the nothingness / There ain’t nothing that I need.

[Him:] Well, hot and heavy, pumpkin pie / Chocolate candy, Jesus Christ / Ain’t nothing please me more than you.

[Both:] Ahh Home. Let me come home / Home is wherever I’m with you / Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome / Home is wherever I’m with you / La, la, la, la, take me home / Mother, I’m coming home.

[Him:] I’ll follow you into the park / Through the jungle through the dark / Girl I never loved one like you.

[Her:] Moats and boats and waterfalls / Alley-ways and pay phone calls / I’ve been everywhere with you.

[Him:] We laugh until we think we’ll die / Barefoot on a summer night / Nothin’ new is sweeter than with you

[Her:] And in the streets you run afree / Like it’s only you and me / Geeze, you’re something to see.

[Both:] Ahh Home. Let me go home / Home is wherever I’m with you / Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome / Home is wherever I’m with you / La, la, la, la, take me home / Daddy, I’m coming home.

(Talking)
Him: Jade
Her: Alexander
Him: Do you remember that day you fell outta my window?
Her: I sure do, you came jumping out after me.
Him: Well, you fell on the concrete, nearly broke your ass, you were bleeding all over the place and I rushed you out to the hospital, you remember that?
Her: Yes I do.
Him: Well there’s something I never told you about that night.
Her: What didn’t you tell me?
Him: While you were sitting in the backseat smoking a cigarette you thought was gonna be your last, I was falling deep, deeply in love with you, and I never told you til just now.

[Both:] Ahh Home. Let me go home / Home is wherever I’m with you / Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome / Home is where I’m alone with you.

[Him:] Home. Let me come home / Home is wherever I’m with you.

[Her:] Ahh home. Yes I am ho-oh-ome / Home is when I’m alone with you.

[Her:] Alabama, Arkansas / I do love my ma and pa … / Moats and boats and waterfalls / Alley-ways and pay phone calls …

[Both:] Ahh Home. Let me go home / Home is wherever I’m with you / Ahh Home. Let me go ho-oh-ome / Home is where I’m alone with you …

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2 Comments

Filed under home, music, music video, my happy for the day

2 Responses to My Happy for the Day: "Home"

  1. minotaurdesign

    that is a happy making song 🙂

  2. shanerhyne

    Ruth and I love that song, too. The lyrics have a special meaning as well, since home is truly where ever we may find the other.

    We've also already purchased our tickets to see Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros when they come to Knoxville in July.

    We'll be in the front row singing, "Alabama, Arkansas…"

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