Rhiannon Giddens offers here a musical meditation on land, home, and the social relations in North America that make finding home so difficult for so many. Each time we talk about home, a long and complex history is on the table. The stories that constitute home for each person can cover the full range of emotions.
And in the systems that comprise our societies, home remains contested – who gets one? How? Who really owns all the spaces we occupy? Why?
Like any muse, Giddens won’t let us sit with easy, sentimental thoughts about home.
From Rhiannon: “This song came knocking about a week ago and I had to open the door and let it in. What can I say about what’s been happening, what has happened, and what is continuing to happen, in this country, in the world? There’s too many words and none, all at once. So I let the music speak, as usual. What a thing to mark this 155th anniversary of Juneteenth with that beautiful soul Yo-Yo Ma. Honored to have it out in the world.”
Build a House
by Rhiannon Giddens
You brought me here to build your house, build your house, build your house
You brought me here to build your house and grow your garden fine
I laid the brick and built your house, built your house, built your house
I laid the brick and built your house, raised the plants so high
And when you had the house and land, the house and land, the house and land
And when you had the house and land, then you told me “go.”
I found a place to build my house, build my house, build my house
I found a place to build my house since I couldn’t go back home
You said I couldn’t build a house, build a house, build a house
You said I couldn’t build a house, so you burned it down
So then I traveled far and wide, far and wide, far and wide
And then I traveled far and wide until I found a home
I learned your words and wrote a song, wrote a song, wrote a song
I learned your words and wrote a song to put my story down
But then you came and took my song, took my song, took my song
But then you came and took my song, playing it for your own
I took my bucket, lowered it down, lowered it down, lowered it down
I took my bucket, lowered it down, the well will never run dry.
You brought me here to build a house, build a house, build a house
You brought me here to build a house. I will not be moved.
No, I will not be moved. No, I will not be, I will not be, I will not be moved.