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Back to the Old House Lyrics

(♫)

I would rather not go
Back to the old house.
I would rather not go
Back to the old house.
There's too many bad memories,
Too many memories there...

(oh-ah-ah) (ah)

When you cycled by,
Here began all my dreams.
The saddest thing I've ever seen.
And you never knew,
How much I really liked you...
Because I never even told you,
Oh, and I meant to.
Are you still there? or have you moved away?
Or have you moved away?

(oh-ah-ah) (ah)

I would love to go
Back to the old house.
But I never will,
I never will.
I never will.
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37 Meanings

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Cover art for Back to the Old House lyrics by Smiths, The

it's about holding a strong connection to one person..

..in the start of the song he states that he obviously does not want to revisit the place of bad past memories..

..then he gets into the thought of this one person, making it seem like he/she was the only comfort he really had over there.. and this thought of them is strong enough to actually make him want to go back just to see if they're still there..

..but inside he knows he could never conjure up the strength to actually do it.. althought he would want to, just for this one person

Cover art for Back to the Old House lyrics by Smiths, The

this song in sense can be very sad, yes.

but really, i have never ever thought a smiths song was sad. beautiful yes. but never sad or depressing. just morbidly humorous.

Cover art for Back to the Old House lyrics by Smiths, The

Having mixed feelings about your past, whether you want to revisit them or not. and thinking about someone you had feelings for and wishing you would have told them and if that person still lives there or moved away. A very sad song.

Cover art for Back to the Old House lyrics by Smiths, The

ive been to the house of the boy i once loved, and il never go back again. its a shame but i dream about him from time to time. but il never go back to the old house

Cover art for Back to the Old House lyrics by Smiths, The

I know that many Smith tunes are melancholic or whatever but this one is just too much. There are no uplifting guitar parts to make it bearable either. The whole thing is sad...to be reserved for sad break-ups, death and other serious issues.

Cover art for Back to the Old House lyrics by Smiths, The

This song comes across to me as one of the only songs by The Smiths that Morrissey sings in a completely sincere way, without a hint of sarcasm. I think it is beautiful and one of their most moving songs. I prefer the Hatful of Hollow version.

Cover art for Back to the Old House lyrics by Smiths, The

This is literally the saddest song i've ever heard.

Cover art for Back to the Old House lyrics by Smiths, The

R E G R E T. i dont think i should feel so much at 16...

Cover art for Back to the Old House lyrics by Smiths, The

I've had similar feelings about someone from my past. It may be a universal experience.

The electric version was the B-side of the 7-inch single of "What Difference Does It Make" (the 12-inch also included "These Things Take Time").

Many of the songs on Louder than Bombs were collected from earlier singles. Though I think it might be a US-only compilation, while in the UK the Smiths' singles compilation was called The World Won't Listen (with similar but not identical tracks, and a different running order).

I still regret selling (for pre-eBay-era prices) all those precious 12-inches I had, after I'd bought Louder than Bombs on CD. "How Soon is Now" sounded great on 12-inch vinyl. (Having put it on the B-side of "William It Was Really Nothing", Rough Trade evidently didn't anticipate what a defining moment for the band that track would be.)

Cover art for Back to the Old House lyrics by Smiths, The

I heard the acoustic version from hoh first and it's spoiled the electric one for me really.

Hey, you guys from the 'this charming man' page! There's a bicycle on this one as well!