STRANGER IN THE HOUSE
(Lyrics and Music by Rick Springfield)
We don't talk much
We don't make love like we used to
And I stay guarded
I've got walls and triggers
I never thought I had
And so do you
But this is love
And that's the way we seem content to play it
I touch your clothes when you're gone
I let your scent wash over me
You cry at night and you wish just like a child
That we were how we used to be
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
And she looks like somebody from a lifetime ago
I stonewall you, you stonewall me
But we both know that
Hiding deep inside us
Lives the love that we try hard to lose
And never will
But this is war
And that's the way we seem content to fight it
I get so angry and confused 'cause
I want out but I want you
You can't decide between moving out or moving in
You don't know what to do
With a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
And she looks like you
And he looks like me
Is this the same girl that, I fought so hard to win
And now I fight to lose her
Now I feel that it's just like skin to skin
And nerve to nerve
Strung out like wire
Is that the way we are content to live
We face off in anger
In rooms once filled with love
Looking for a chink in the armour
Where we can stab the blade
What are we thinking of
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
And she looks like somebody from a lifetime ago
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
There's a stranger in the house
In the house
(total playing time 4:01) SONG FACTS:
This song appears on the the album Tao. More
Reviews:
Stranger in the House is one of my favorite songs. I
think the lines "is this the same girl I fought so hard to win and now I fight to
lose her" is about how now that he has her, he feels vulnerable, he tries locking
himself away, pushing her away, trying to protect himself from the possible hurt she can
inflict on his heart. He doesn't want to leave her, he loves her, but maybe he can get her
to leave him, lessening his guilt, but would it resolve the conflicts and fights they're
having…
This is just such a "real" song and the
emotions are easily identified with.
I remember so clearly when I bought and listened to Tao
for the first time. My hubby and I were sitting in our living room. When "Stranger In
The House" began to play my ears immediately "perked-up" "Are you
hearing these lyrics"?, I asked my hubby incredulously "we just had THIS fight 2
days ago!!!". I was amazed that a couple like Rick and his wife may have been facing
the same "problems" as we. Lines like..."I've got walls and triggers, I
never thought I had, and so do you" or "looking for a chink in the
armour, where we can stab the blade" ring so true. The worst "damage"
is always done by the ones whom we love the most. I think that was the first time I
thought of Rick as an
"ordinary man", one with problems and frustrations just like the rest of us.
I've always loved Rick's lyrical abilities, his turn of phrase is impeccable. But the
story conveyed in this song really hit "close to home".
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WOW! Ya know sometimes you hear songs over & over & over
and you just don’t connect with the words at all, then one day you are like
"WHOA! I have been there!"? That is this song for me - BIG TIME! So glad it was
short lived & we got past it!
Ok, I like this song...I really do. It's got a great
beat, and even though the subject is a little touchy, the words have some real meaning.
The one thing that I really don't like about it is that it is too repetitious. It's got no
dynamics.... oh wait, off on a Hard to Hold tangent there. It's just that I would
like the song so much better if Rick had more to say at the end then "there's a
stranger in the house". Uh, yeah, we got it already.
When I was a teenager, I really saw this song as one where a couple has been together for
a while, they are pretty complacent in their relationship, and
now they want out. They still love each other, and go through the motions of being a
couple and don't want to hurt the other, so they stay. But in their
hearts, they want to go.
As an adult, I'm seeing the stranger as marriage. It's a tough job on both sides,
especially the longer you are in it. You change into different people
over the years with more responsibilities, maybe children, careers, etc. "We don't
talk much, we don't make love like we used to" "I touch your clothes when
you're gone, I let your scent wash over me" I love this line. Is there not a
better way to "feel" someone when they are gone? "You cry at night and
you wish just like a child that we were how we used to be" I miss the dating
stage. You can't go back to just holding hands after marriage, it just doesn't work
anymore.
Rick compares the "stranger" to a she from a lifetime ago. I have always thought
that women change more first off in a marriage. Rick is recognizing that at the
beginning...he as the man still feels the same, yet he also feels that "she" has
changed. Later in the song he admits to the stranger looking like both of them. He's
finally realized that possibly he has changed but was afraid to admit it.
Lots of fighting in this relationship. Love and war, the basic meaning of a man's life. I
have never argued with someone more than my husband, yet I
don't love anyone any more than I love my husband (well, ok maybe our kids). Rick
himself has said "anyone in a relationship longer than six months has
arguments". Especially if you're married to an Italian as is the case with me :-)
This song is about that point in a marriage when it seems
there is no going back to the love that was once there. Each feels their spouse has
changed somehow. There seems to be more arguments than discussions going on. Maybe,
neither one has time for the other and when kids are involved that makes it all the
harder. Could it be what is referred to as the Seven Year Itch??
"Is this the same girl that I fought so hard to
win and now I fight to lose her", hmmm, I don't understand this statement other
than that maybe men think differently and when things go bad they want to say something to
get it over with and run out the door. "Now, I feel that it's just like skin to
skin" (hey, this verse is in another song....) "and nerve to nerve strung
out like wire is that the way we're content to live" okay, well, any little thing
can spark the arguing and insults, yet nobody is willing to make the first move to try to
fix things.
"Looking for a chink in the armour where we can
stab the blade", insults that hurt and that push the other's buttons, who can do
the most damage to the psyche of the other. Each one wants to have the last word or
insult.
"And she looks like somebody from a lifetime ago"
that sweet innocent beauty that he fell in love with is no longer sweet and innocent and
is no longer going to put up with his baggage, garbage, sh**!! The real person that was in
hiding until after the marriage, that is.
Okay, yeah, this song really hits close to home. I won't
say anymore than that "Yes, you can love that person again. It takes much work, but
it can be done. And you find that you love that person more than ever and don't know how
you ever thought that you didn't."
"Stranger" is tied (with Written in Rock) as my
second favorite song on the album. I really like it. My parents were in the middle of a
bitter divorce when Tao was released. This song summed up their relationship perfectly, I
think that is why it was always one of my favorites. Secretly, I liked to pretend that
Rick must have peeked through our windows, sat with us during those many silent family
dinners because he nailed my parents’ relationship perfectly.
Rick completely captures the angst of almost hating the one you love with lines like
"Hiding deep inside us lives the love that we try hard to lose but never will"
and "I want out but I want you". My very favorite line..."is this
the same girl I fought so hard to win and now I fight to lose her". That one line
sums up all the turmoil and lost-love that comes with divorce. On that glorious, shining
day of a wedding no one ever thinks that this union will end in divorce. Yet sadly it
happens even when people love each other, but love is not always enough.
I always saw "Stranger" from Sahara Snow as a
bit of a sequel to this song. Looking past the obvious connection of the "stranger in
my house" line and the continuing theme of lost love, I think the SS
"Stranger" is a more uplifting version, it gives a ray of hope and a sense that
yes, this relationship IS worth saving. "We can build it up, we can tear it down
but we've got to start again". It seems like the 1985 Tao version was full of
anger, doubt and an unwillingness to put any effort into a relationship. The 1997 Sahara
Snow version takes a more level, mature approach and acknowledges that it will be work,
but it is a relationship worth salvaging.
This one is quite frankly my favorite on the album.
Lyrically. Musically. The whole nine yard. Such a powerful song. It is so passionately
delivered too. Again, another song where I can actually feel the struggle and the sadness
and frustration in just listening to it. The phrasing on the verses is incredible. Stand
out lines?? Basically the whole song for me but here are the ones that grab me most:
I touch your clothes when you're gone
I let your scent wash over me
Hiding deep inside us
Lives the love that we try hard to lose
And never will
Is this the same girl that, I fought so hard to win
And now I fight to lose her
We face off in anger
In rooms once filled with love
Looking for a chink in the armour
Where we can stab the blade
The only thing I'm not so wild about is the repeating of "Stranger in the House"
for an eternity at the end of the song. He was into that on this record for some reason.
There is a point when it goes past repetition just to drive a point home. Rick passes that
point a few times on this record.
I've been dragging my feet on this one because I don't
have a lot to say. This is one of those songs where I like the song, kind of "just
because".
As I hear it, it draws real clear images in my head of two people living in the same
house, avoiding each other, not talking. The line that draws the clearest picture is
"I touch your clothes when you're gone I let your scent wash over me" I
just see Rick standing in a closet smelling clothes, missing the way things used to
be.......
Another great line: "I've got walls and triggers, I never thought I had."
It's funny how the people who you care about the most are the ones that can get to you the
most....
And along that same way of thinking: "Looking for a chink in the armour, Where we
can stab the blade." The people that are the closest to you are the ones that
know where to get you where it hurts.
This is one of my favorites too. I think the music itself
sets the tension in this song and really pushes off the lyrics to create the full impact.
I mean the music fits the lyrics so well that it makes the song even cooler to me. The
lyrics are great too. I think I got
this tune stuck in my head a few years back when I went through a rough time with my
husband. But I do agree that he repeats that one line an awful lot...
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