10 Sweet And Sour Songs About Home

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There are the obvious songs about home that everyone knows, like Mötley Crüe’s “Home Sweet Home,” Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama,” Ozzy Osbourne’s “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “Our House.” It would be boring and lazy to go only with those. This list digs deeper. We kept a few popular choices, but in the end, we came up with songs we thought were special and that took a deeper look at the sweet and sour sides of home life.

# 10 – Home – Dream Theater (Sour)

Why not open this rock songs list about home with a song actually titled “Home”? I might as well get straight to it. I love this intense Dream Theater song. Listen to that opening. It just gives you chills. “Home” was released on Dream Theater’s 1999 concept album Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. We picked this one to open the list to make a point: not all songs about home are fueled by flowers and happy memories. Within the album’s story, “Home” is tied to betrayal, infidelity, and murder.

# 9 – Come On Up to the House – Tom Waits (Sweet)

So, how does one follow up a song about betrayal and murder? That’s easy: pick a Tom Waits song. While there are other Tom Waits songs about houses and home, including “House Where Nobody Lives,” we decided to lighten the mood a little and pick one of his more welcoming songs. “Come On Up to the House” closes the great Mule Variations album, released in 1999. It is less a jolly song than an invitation to put down your burdens and come inside, which makes it a perfect “sweet” entry for this list.

# 8 – Home Again – Carole King (Sweet)

As we continue through this list, we thought it was time to add a little tenderness, and who better fit for that job than the wonderful Carole King? The song “Home Again” was released on Carole King’s 1971 album Tapestry. That landmark album became one of the defining singer-songwriter records of its era. At the 1972 Grammy Awards, Tapestry won Album of the Year, while “It’s Too Late” won Record of the Year and “You’ve Got a Friend” won Song of the Year. “Home Again” captures something simpler and more intimate: the longing to get back to the person and place that make you feel right.

# 7 – One Less Bell to Answer – The 5th Dimension (Sour)

Well, on the positive side, the song implies that the woman’s grocery bill will be a little cheaper. This classic Burt Bacharach and Hal David song tells the story of a relationship gone bad, leaving the house just a little less crowded. It’s a pretty sad one. I mean, it’s freaking really sad. The mood, melody, lyrics, arrangement, and Marilyn McCoo’s lead vocal all work together to make you feel really, really bad. The 5th Dimension released the song as a single in 1970.

# 6 – You and Me – Alice Cooper (Sweet)

A song about home doesn’t always have to have the word “home” in its title. Alice Cooper’s much-loved ballad “You and Me,” from the 1977 album Lace and Whiskey, is very much about being home. This was one that a lot of people related to and still do. It’s about the simple things in life: love, sharing a bed, and watching TV after work. What else do you need? We should all listen to Alice — Vincent Furnier if we’re being formal — and remember that ordinary life can be enough.

# 5 – What’s He Building? – Tom Waits (Sour)

Tom Waits makes his second appearance on our sweet and sour home songs list, and this time it’s definitely not as sweet as the first. You could probably make an entire list of Tom Waits songs about houses because he has written so many of them. “What’s He Building?” from Mule Variations is one of the creepiest recordings he ever released. It’s also one of his coolest.

The spoken-word track follows a suspicious narrator obsessing over the mysterious man next door and all the strange sounds, packages, tools, and activity coming from inside the house. Something terrible may be happening in there, or the whole thing may be the product of a neighbor’s imagination running wild. Maybe the scariest house is the one being watched from across the fence. Hmmmmmm?

# 4 – Our House – Madness (Sweet)

These guys have always been a lot of fun and a little bit crazy. But who doesn’t love crazy? Ultimately, the Madness song presents a realistic tale of life in a home filled with different personalities, generations, routines, and interruptions. Chris Foreman and Cathal Smyth, better known as Chas Smash, wrote the song. “Our House” was issued as a single from the band’s fourth album, The Rise & Fall, released in 1982. It became Madness’ biggest hit in the United States, peaking at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100.

# 3 – Chelsea Morning – Joni Mitchell (Sweet)

Joni Mitchell’s moving appearance at the 2024 Grammy Awards reminded a huge television audience why she remains one of popular music’s most treasured songwriters, so we wanted to pay tribute by including “Chelsea Morning” on our Sweet and Sour Home Songs list. “Chelsea Morning” appeared on Mitchell’s 1969 album Clouds. The song was inspired by her experiences in a New York apartment and by the stained-glass colors and morning light that transformed an ordinary room into something magical. Few songs make the simple pleasure of waking up at home sound more beautiful.

# 2 – (Ain’t Nothin’ but a) House Party – The J. Geils Band (Sweet)

Oh yeah, it’s time to strap on your dance shoes. Who better to get the party started than the J. Geils Band? This heavy-duty party song is the perfect choice to get the lights flickering at home. Don’t forget to stock up on ice. “(Ain’t Nothin’ but a) House Party” was originally recorded by the Show Stoppers in 1967 and was written by Del Sharh and Joseph Thomas. The J. Geils Band turned it into a blazing rock and roll party track on their 1973 album Bloodshot.

# 1 – I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home) – Grand Funk Railroad (Sweet and Sour)

Staying true to this article’s point, home is not always the place where you are — sometimes it’s the place you desperately want to reach. Grand Funk Railroad’s masterpiece “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home)” spells that out with the swagger of one of classic rock’s most loved groups and greatest songs.

The song narrates the story of a sea captain on a troubled voyage, pleading with a crew that appears to be turning against him. Written by Mark Farner, the 1970 recording unfolds in two connected movements. The first is driven by guitar, Mel Schacher’s bass, and Don Brewer’s drums; the second shifts into the repeated longing to get closer to home as an orchestra gradually enlarges the sound.

The song has inspired many interpretations over the decades. The Vietnam War is one of the most common, and the recording developed a particularly strong connection with Vietnam veterans, although Farner has preferred to leave room for listeners to find their own meaning in it. That makes the song even more powerful: the captain’s longing can stand for soldiers, travelers, people separated from family, or anyone who has ever desperately wanted to get back home.

The full album recording runs for more than ten minutes and became a progressive-rock radio favorite, while a shortened single version reached the Billboard Hot 100. The orchestral ending gave Grand Funk Railroad a sound unlike almost anything else in their catalog. Sweet and sour, hopeful and desperate, “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home)” is exactly the kind of song this list was created to celebrate.