That home

Following on from the last post, I press you to listen to the below video of To build a home.



It is the first track on The Cinematic Orchestra's fifth album entitled Ma Fleur. I've been a big fan of it for a while now (it came out in 2007). I recently listened to the whole album again. The second last track features a one and a half minute reprise of To build a home which is entitled That Home. Its juxtaposition with To build a home is hauntingly beautiful.

To build a home tells a mournful story of loss culminating in the final lines:
"And I built a home
For you
For me
Until it disappeared
From me
From you
And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust"

In contrast, the lyrics and music of That home, while still somewhat mournful, are strangely uplifting. When I'm sitting quietly with That home playing firm through my headphones, I feel like I've arrived in a place that I never want to leave. It is a feeling of intense belonging and comfort. The lyrics couldn't be more spot on, for this is a place where I don't feel alone. This is a place that I call my home.

For me, a combined listening of To build a home and That home epitomises Rilke's observation that music has the capacity to make "the innermost point in us stand outside". And the beautiful thing is, we have no control over it. It happens against our will. Yummy.