Lyrics to
The House You Live In

This version of The House You Live In was released by Gordon Lightfoot in 1976.

Our Gordon Lightfoot Songs profile has The House You Live In lyrics from 1976 and most if not all of the lyrics by Gordon Lightfoot that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Gordon Lightfoot or about the 1970s in general.

Go first in the world, go forth with your fears
Remember a price must be paid
Be always too soon, be never too fast
At the time when all bets must be laid
Beware of the darkness, be kind to your children
Remember the woman who waits
And the house you live in will never fall down
If you pity the stranger who stands at your gate

When you’re caught by the gale and you’re full under sail
Beware of the dangers below
And the song that you sing should not be too sad
And be sure not to sing it too slow
Be calm in the face of all common disgraces
And know what they’re doin’ it for
And the house you live in will never fall down
If you pity the stranger who stands at your door

When you’re out on the road and feelin’ quite lost
Consider the burden of fame
And he who is wise will not criticize
When other men fail at the game
Beware of strange faces and dark dingy places
Be careful while bending the law
And the house you live in will never fall down
If you pity the stranger who stands at your door

When you’re down in the dumps and not ready to deal
Decide what it is that you need
Is it money or love, is it learning to live
Or is it the mouth you must feed
Be known as a man who will always be candid
On questions that do not relate
And the house you live in will never fall down
If you pity the stranger who stands at the gate
And the house you live in will never fall down
If you pity the stranger who stands at the gate

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Gordon Lightfoot has released many songs over the years besides The House You Live In. Gordon Lightfoot released songs from 1966 to 2004 spanning across albums like Lightfoot!, The Way I Feel, Back Here On Earth, Did She Mention My Name, Sunday Concert, Sit Down Young Stranger / If You Could Read My Mind, Summer Side Of Life, Don Quixote, Old Dan's Records, Sundown, Cold On The Shoulder, Summertime Dream, Endless Wire, Dream Street Rose, Shadows, Salute, East Of Midnight, Waiting For You, A Painter Passing Through, and Harmony. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Gordon Lightfoot.

If you're a fan of 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1976 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and The House You Live In by Gordon Lightfoot

The lyrics for The House You Live In are defined as the words making up the song released by Gordon Lightfoot in 1976. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to The House You Live In have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Gordon Lightfoot and those working with them know all of the meanings behind all of the lyrics to their songs.

Some folks are interested in word and phrase etymology. It is easy to understand the lyrics to The House You Live In by Gordon Lightfoot if you think through it. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to The House You Live In" means the words set to the music of The House You Live In, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Gordon Lightfoot. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to The House You Live In and the lyrics to The House You Live In are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Gordon Lightfoot who came here looking just for the lyrics to The House You Live In, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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