Lyrics Iris DeMent – House Where Nobody Lives

There’s a house on my block
That’s abandoned and cold
Folks moved out of it a long time ago
And they took all their things

Once it held laughter
Once it held dreams
Did they throw it away
Did they know what it means
Did someone’s heart break
Or did somebody do somebody wrong?

The paint was all cracked
It was peeled off of the wood
Papers were stacked on the porch where I stood
And the weeds had grown up
Just as high as the door
There’s birds in the chimney
And an old chest of drawers
Looks like no one will ever come back
To the house where nobody lives

Once it held laughter
Once it held dreams
Did they throw it away
Did they know what it means
Did someone’s heart break
Or did somebody do somebody wrong?

So if you find someone
To have and to hold
Don’t trade it for silver
Don’t trade it for gold
I have all of life’s pleasures
And they are fine and they are good
They remind me that houses are just made of wood
What makes a house grand ain’t the roof or the doors
If there’s love in a house
It’s a palace for sure without love
It ain’t nothin’ but a house
A house where nobody lives

Without love it ain’t nothin’ but a house
Where nobody lives