This House We Built

There's a yellow tape around the porch where we used to run

And a yellow crane blocking out the morning sun

They're taking down the chimney,

stone by heavy stone

Breaking down the only sanctuary I have ever known

I can see my mother painting in the kitchen light

And my father's heavy footsteps coming home at night

But the walls are turning into

dust and broken pine

Leaving nothing but this fading memory of mine (mmmmm)

Oh, the timbers are splintering,

the plaster is thin

But how do you demolish the love that was within?

They can tear down the cedar,

the oak, and the stone

But they can't erase the sweetest home I've ever known

Here is the doorframe where they measured how I grew

Marks in pencil from the years that flew

Now it's piled in the yard with the window panes and glass

Every single footprint

buried in the grass

Goodbye to the porch light

Goodbye to the hall (ahhh)