The House That Built Me
"The House That Built Me" | ||||
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Single by Miranda Lambert | ||||
from the album Revolution | ||||
Released | March 8, 2010 | |||
Recorded | 2009 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 3:56 | |||
Label | Columbia Nashville | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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Miranda Lambert singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"The House That Built Me" on YouTube |
"The House That Built Me" is a song written by
Lambert performed the song during the 2010 Academy of Country Music Awards on April 18, 2010, and received a standing ovation. At the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards on February 13, 2011, she won the Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.
Content
"The House That Built Me" is a country ballad in the key of F major driven primarily by acoustic guitar with steel guitar fills. The song's female narrator describes returning, as an adult, to the house that she grew up in, and asking the person who now lives in the house if she could step inside and take a look around. She refers to it as "the house that built [her]," because of all the memories that she had of growing up within its walls.
Allen Shamblin based the song on his experiences going back to the house in Huffman, Texas that he grew up in at least once a year.[2]
Critical reception
The song received critical acclaim. Matt Bjorke described the song favorably in his review of Revolution, referring it as "one of the absolute best songs on the record." He notes that while it could've been "a bombastic, overdone song," Lambert and her producers kept it "earthy and just downright beautiful."
"The House That Built Me" was ranked No. 1 on Engine 145's Best Country Songs of 2009.[7] The song received nominations in three categories (Single of the Year, Song of the Year, and Music Video of the Year) at the 2010 CMA Awards. Billboard and Paste both ranked it number one on their lists of the 10 greatest Miranda Lambert songs.[8][9] It was ranked No. 441 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time".[10]
Commercial performance
"The House That Built Me" debuted at number 51 on the U.S.
Music video
The music video, which was directed by
Lambert told The Boot that the concept of the video was clear: "This was one of those videos that needed to be really obvious ... [The director] found a house that looked a lot like the house I grew up in. There's no drama in the video. It just is what it is. It represents the song in such a great way."[16]
In popular culture
Parodies
- American parody artist Cledus T. Judd released a parody of the song under the title "The House That Broke Me" on his 2012 album, Parodyziac!![17]
Covers
- American YouTuber Chester See released a cover of "The House That Built Me" on his YouTube channel in 2015.[18]
- American country artist Tanya Tucker recorded a cover of "The House That Built Me" for her album, While I'm Livin', which was released on August 23, 2019. While Lambert's version is from the perspective of a child who grew up in the titular house, Tucker's version is sung from the perspective of a mother who watched her children grow up in the house.[19]
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
|
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA)[27] | 4× Platinum | 2,267,000[13] |
Awards and nominations
"The House That Built Me" received three nominations at the
Award | Category | Result |
---|---|---|
44th CMA Awards
|
Song of the Year | Won |
Single of the Year | Nominated | |
Music Video of the Year | Won | |
53rd Grammy Awards
|
Song of the Year | Nominated |
Best Country Song | Nominated | |
Best Female Country Vocal Performance | Won | |
46th ACM Awards
|
Song of the Year | Won |
Single Record of the Year | Won | |
Video of the Year | Won |
References
- ^ "Recording Industry Association of America". RIAA. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ "CMT Blog: Miranda Lambert's "House" Takes Me Back Home". Blog.cmt.com. March 10, 2010. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ "Roughstock Blog: Miranda Lambert – Revolution". Roughstock.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ "Roughstock Blog: Miranda Lambert – "The House That Built Me"". Roughstock.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ "Miranda Lambert – "The House That Built Me"". Engine 145. February 23, 2010. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ Milliken, Dan (April 1, 2010). "Single Review/Shameless Rant: Miranda Lambert, "The House That Built Me"". Country Universe. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ "The Best Country Songs of 2009". Engine 145. December 21, 2009. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ Dauphin, Chuck (June 30, 2017). "Miranda Lambert's 10 Best Songs: Critic's Picks". Billboard. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
- ^ Johnson, Ellen (August 17, 2020). "The 10 Best Miranda Lambert Songs". Paste. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
- ^ "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 15, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
- ^ "Miranda Lambert Debuts "The House That Built Me" Video; Jake Owen Channels Brooks & Dunn In Tribute to Scooby Doo". Engine 145. April 6, 2010. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ Grein, Paul (April 16, 2014). "Chart Watch: "Happy" tops 4M". Yahoo! Music. Yahoo!.
- ^ a b Bjorke, Matt (April 4, 2016). "The Top 30 Digital Country Singles: April 4, 2016". Roughstock.
- ^ "CMT Videos : Music Binge – 4.8.10 : The House That Built Me". CMT. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- ^ Miranda Lambert Blog: ACM Good Luck Charm? Meet "Cher" Archived June 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Hughes, Donna (April 21, 2010). "Miranda Lambert Makes Obvious Choice for New Video". The Boot. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
- Allmusic. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "House That Built Me (Side Effects Movie on E! April 17th 3pm EST)". YouTube.
- ^ Côté, Thierry. "Tanya Tucker While I'm Livin'". exclaim.ca. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^ "Miranda Lambert Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ "Miranda Lambert Chart History (Canada Country)". Billboard. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ "Miranda Lambert Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ "Miranda Lambert Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ "Hot 100 Songs - Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ "Country Songs - Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
- ^ "Decade-End Charts: Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
- ^ "American single certifications – Miranda Lambert – The House That Built Me". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
- ^ Tucker, Ken (February 13, 2011). "Lady Antebellum Tops Grammys". Country Weekly. Retrieved February 14, 2011.