Home by Lila Forde

Home might just be Lila’s best song yet. It’s as much about the building as about the idea of home. Oh, this is a sad song and no mistake. But so uplifting too.

This is a painfully beautiful, heartbreaking, mainly acoustic song. I reviewed Lila Forde’s album in June and felt particularly drawn to the song Brick by Brick. Home might just be Lila’s best song yet. She has a stunning old-time voice. This one is as much about the building as about the idea of home, and family too.

There’s a house on 68th Street
A crimson craftsman style
A convent through the ages
The nuns were running wild
And one sister still remains there
Mary Agnes is her name
A ghost who plays piano
Became her claim to fame

There is such a long cast of fascinating characters in her old street. The line about the neighbour who will raise your old bike seat is particularly poignant. My dad performed those duties for me, on every bike I ever owned (from the age of what, four or five?) even helping out when I bought that racing bike aged 17, thinking I might ride the Tour de France. He’s not with us any more. My daughter, 14, is in the process of offloading the last bike she will own or at least, the last bike she will ever want us to buy for her. We can’t quite bring ourselves to give it away. Just one more year in the shed, I think. She might change her mind?

This song is as much about all the family and friends Lila remembers as about the house, and that is where it finds the emotional connection. It is guaranteed to make you think of your own home. Guaranteed. Let me know if it doesn’t.

I had a look at the map of Seattle. Could Lila be singing about North 68th Street by Green Lake? Seattle is such a beautiful city. I spent an Independence Day there once, with work, around 2011, watching the fireworks across Lake Union. I’m sorry to keep coming back to me, but I think this song will have the same effect on you. It just triggers great memories.

Lila described the song a couple of weeks ago on Instagram.

This song tells the story of my home — a Seattle craftsman fixer-upper my parents bought in ‘97. I was born in it, raised in it, and now I wrote a song about it.

Be ye warned, I intend to yammer about this song for the next month. “Home” is the best work I’ve done thus far — It’s the full representation of who I am and who I want to be — and I can’t wait for the world to hear it.

I know what you’re thinking: writers always say their new song is the best, don’t they? But she’s right! Oh, this is a sad song and no mistake. But so uplifting too. She’s coming home to have a look, knowing it might be a mistake. We all know what she means by that, right?

I so wish I could see Lila Forde live. Her tour starts tomorrow and it kicks off (appropriately enough) in the PNW area, stopping in Seattle on Sunday 28th. That’s going to be quite the hometown show!

I wrote Home after spending a week in my childhood house as an adult. It’s an homage to the place and the people who gave me such a colorful, wonder-filled upbringing. After I finished the song, I took it into the studio with my band, my brother producing, and we captured a magic take that became the record. Home feels like the truest representation of who I am, and who I want to become — I’m deeply proud of it.

I was very happy listening to this song before the video was available but the video definitely adds some layers. It features Lila returning home, exploring the basement and the quieter, darker parts (accompanied by one of her dogs) as though she has just bought her first house. The footage is intercut with her nature rambles: the stunning rocky countryside, the famous American outdoors. And we see her in the studio recording this song. Have a look. This one has a proper cowboy / cowgirl Western vibe to it. Even the recording was a family event.

You can stream Home on your favourite streaming service here. Lila has the vinyl version of her debut album Vessel on Bandcamp. She is active on Instagram where you can see more of her live performances, and has a website where you can book tickets for her tour which starts TOMORROW, dates below, including a promising Valentine’s Day special at the legendary Pappy & Harriet’s!