Story Behind The Song
Can't Follow You Home is an americana, upbeat-but-mellow, acoustic guitar driven song about a relationship and they way conflicts can arise. It is meant to depict a poetic picture of discord between a couple, almost as if observing it from afar, though the singer is clearly describing his own experience. The instrumentation was designed to yield simplicity while still displaying a technically interesting guitar riff. The picture, all in all, is supposed to be simple and beautiful - to depict the simple beauty in a relationship, lamenting its difficulties, but turning them into poetry.
Song Description
Can't Follow You Home is meant to be unimposing but elegant in its description of non-exceptional conflicts that always arise in relationships. It is supposed to harken of Americana, and depict a peaceful life more in the style of the midwest than a high-powered city like New York or Los Angeles. The song is designed in a typical style of pop music and allows the ears to follow it with ease. The technical guitar riff starts the song, while the vocals carry the story from start to finish. All guitar parts are designed to flow seamlessly from section-to-section and rise and fall witht he dynamics of the lyrics.
| Song Length |
2:31 |
Genre |
Pop - Alternative, Folk - Americana |
| Tempo |
Medium (111 - 130) |
Lead Vocal |
Male Vocal |
| Mood |
Diplomatic, Endearing |
Subject |
General, Prairie, Plains |
| Similar Artists |
Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, James Bay, Sufjan Stevens, |
Language |
English |
| Era |
2000 and later |
| |
Lyrics
I turned only 18 last week
You were turning 30 before you had teeth
I was drowning inside my relief
That I could hide forever between the sheets
And there was nothing left for me to speak
As you implore the ceiling that you've run plum out of sheep
And darling I'm afraid that you might sweep
Our love under the bed as you scrub the footprints clean, and
I couldn't know
Why your gardens never grow
But if you ask me to rack my brain, I'd
Say there's nothing left
And if you say you can't take me this way, I
Can't follow you home, oh
You were drifting slowly through the peat
As I was drinking it distilled till I felt not so weak
And the barn doors never transcended their creaks
As the wind howled and they lamented every leak
But there was so much left for us to see
Between the water's sunset, and its weary feet, and
I couldn't know
Why your gardens never grow
But if you ask me to rack my brain, I'd
Say there's nothing left
And if you say you can't take me this way, I
Can't follow you home, oh