Song of the Week #8 - "If My Heart Was a House" by Owl City
Song of the Week #8 is "If My Heart Was a House" by Owl City. This week, I'm excited to be talking about another song from my favorite musician. Seven weeks ago, the very first song of the week was "Cave In" from Owl City's spectacular Ocean Eyes album. "If My Heart Was a House" is a somewhat more obscure song – it's track number 6 on disc 2 of the deluxe version of Ocean Eyes – but that doesn't make it any less powerful. In a music ranking survey conducted on the forum /r/OWLCITY on the website Reddit in 2016, "If My Heart Was a House" was voted the song that forum subscribers would choose to listen to over any other song created by Adam Young, the man behind Owl City.
"If My Heart Was a House" is a song about love. If that part is not immediately apparent from the title, it becomes apparent within the first few seconds of the song.
The overall atmosphere of the track is definitely happy, but the lyrics convey a slightly different feeling. Throughout Owl City's repertoire, you can actually find a good number of songs that fit this captivating mold of "sad lyrics over uplifting chords". In my view, "If My Heart Was a House" also fits this mold, and this dynamic never ceases to fascinate me.
And yet he isn't quite satisfied. Although the singer knows that he may as well stop moping and move on, he still realizes that there is something missing. Although he wants to move on, he still knows that there is a hole in his heart that one person could easily fill, and thus, his regrets keep returning.
On that note, Adam Young delivers one of the most heartfelt and passionate choruses in Owl City:
The interpretation that I personally subscribe to is the "reversal of time" interpretation because it fits in nicely with his regretful, lonely tone in the pre-chorus:
Softly, in almost a whisper, he repeats the first part of the chorus:
"If My Heart Was a House" is a song about love. If that part is not immediately apparent from the title, it becomes apparent within the first few seconds of the song.
You're the sky that I fell through,I generally feel that Owl City doesn't have too many romantic songs in his repertoire. Those that could be interpreted romantically could also be interpreted platonically. It's fairly clear, however, that this song is directed to someone whom Owl City once loved.
And I remember the view,
Whenever I'm holding you.
The Sun hung from a string,
Looking down on the world
As it warms over everything.
The overall atmosphere of the track is definitely happy, but the lyrics convey a slightly different feeling. Throughout Owl City's repertoire, you can actually find a good number of songs that fit this captivating mold of "sad lyrics over uplifting chords". In my view, "If My Heart Was a House" also fits this mold, and this dynamic never ceases to fascinate me.
Chills run down my spine,So far, these verses have been unambiguously romantic. However, we soon learn in the pre-chorus that the events being described happened in the past, in simpler, happier times. In the present day, however, the singer is alone, seemingly without his partner:
As our fingers entwine,
And your sighs harmonize with mine.
Unmistakably,
I can still feel your heart
Beat fast when you dance with me.
We got older, and I should've known,We get an interesting structure here where the singer seems almost to be talking to himself. On the one hand, we have the singer's pessimistic side that realizes his present loneliness, and on the other hand, we have the singer's more realistic side pointing out to him that he's still "alive" and that he'll still "survive" without the person he's thinking about. And the singer eventually seems at first to agree with his realistic side, claiming that he "may as well ditch [his] dismay", to which his realistic side responds, "Bombs away", as if ordering himself to destroy (i.e. "bomb") the disappointment and longing he feels for the relationship that is no longer in is life.
(Do you feel alive?)
That I'd feel colder when I walk alone,
(Oh but you'll survive)
So I may as well ditch my dismay.
(Bombs away... bombs away...)
And yet he isn't quite satisfied. Although the singer knows that he may as well stop moping and move on, he still realizes that there is something missing. Although he wants to move on, he still knows that there is a hole in his heart that one person could easily fill, and thus, his regrets keep returning.
On that note, Adam Young delivers one of the most heartfelt and passionate choruses in Owl City:
Circle me,The first time I heard this chorus, I couldn't help but smile as it got to the end. Even though the context is melancholic, Adam Young's passion is eminent. The title of the song appears in the final line of the chorus; this is one of those instances where you know that the line is probably coming because it is in the title of the song, but until the actual context of the line is revealed, you can only guess at what the meaning might be. In this case: "if my heart was a house, you'd be home."
And the needle moves gracefully
Back and forth.
If my heart was a compass, you'd be north.
Risk it all,
'Cause I'll catch you if you fall,
Wherever you go.
If my heart was a house, you'd be home.
It makes me smile because you said it best,This second verse is the quintessential classic Owl City, with its gorgeous imagery of happiness, the sun, scents, and colors. The most interesting line for me is, "I would clearly feel blessed if the sun rose up from the west." What does this line mean? It's open to interpretation. For me, I thought about how it could be that the sun might rise from the west – the spin of the Earth about its axis seems to be intimately linked to the flow of time (Adam Young also discusses the spin of the Earth in his most popular song, "Fireflies"). It's possible that the singer wants to reverse time (causing the sunset to reverse into a sunrise from the west), so that he could go back and spend more time with whomever it is he is singing to. Another possibility is that the singer would simply feel blessed if something out of the ordinary happened – a sunset from the west would certainly be an anomalous change the humdrum predictability of the passage of day and night.
I would clearly feel blessed if the sun rose up from the west.
Flower balm perfume, all my clothes smell like you,
'Cause your favorite shade is navy blue.
The interpretation that I personally subscribe to is the "reversal of time" interpretation because it fits in nicely with his regretful, lonely tone in the pre-chorus:
I walk slowly when I'm on my own,However, even though he feels alone now, even though he knows he'll "survive" even without whomever he is singing about, there is still that vacancy in his heart, one that could be filled by someone, inhabited by someone, made a home by someone.
(Do you feel alive?)
Yeah, but frankly I still feel alone,
(Oh, but you'll survive.)
So I may as well ditch my dismay,
(Bombs away... bombs away...)
Softly, in almost a whisper, he repeats the first part of the chorus:
Circle me,Then, with great resolve, as if trying to reach his voice out to someone miles away, he makes the following heartfelt declaration:
And the needle moves gracefully
Back and forth.
If my heart was a compass, you'd be north.
Risk it all,Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
'Cause I'll catch you if you fall,
Wherever you go.
If my heart was a house, you'd be home!