I keep having these strange days where nothing quite seems as it should be.  I go into the kitchen for the sole purpose of cleaning my glasses.  I make a cup of coffee, put a couple of dishes in the dishwasher, see a bit of something on the countertop and wipe it down, check the freezer to … what?  Make sure there is still food in it?  Open the dryer … oops, forgot to fold the towels.  Fold the towels.  Bring the coffee back into the living room, sit down, pick up the laptop and … why is everything so blurry?  Oh yeah … I forgot to clean my glasses.  I blame all this on Donald Trump and his supporters.  Anyway, this song popped into my head while I was rolling smokes tonight, and I thought that somehow it fits my mood just perfectly!

Our House, released in September 1970, was written by Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.  At the time, Nash was living with Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell.  According to Nash …

“The time that Joni and I were living together was really interesting, because I had left my band [The Hollies] successfully, I had left my country [England] successfully, I had been accepted here [Los Angeles, California], and I was feeling great. And Joni was feeling great, too; she had started to realize who she was and the fantastic work she was doing. She was painting and designing her second album cover, doing that self-portrait. And I remember being totally in awe of her. She’d go and make some supper and come down and we’d be eating, then she’d all of a sudden space out, go to the piano … to see her sit down and write ‘Rainy Night House’ and all those other things was just mind blowing.”

According to Graham Nash’s biography Wild Tales, a famous line in this song had a very specific inspiration. He and Joni Mitchell went to an antiques store and she picked out a vase. When they got home, Nash said, “I’ll light the fire while you place the flowers in the vase that you bought today.” He stopped dead in his tracks and went immediately to the piano.

Our House
Crosby, Stills & Nash

I’ll light the fire
You put the flowers in the vase that you bought today
Staring at the fire for hours and hours while I listen to you
Play your love songs all night long for me, only for me

Come to me now and rest your head for just five minutes, everything is good
Such a cozy room, the windows are illuminated by the
Sunshine through them, fiery gems for you, only for you

Our house is a very, very, very fine house with two cats in the yard
Life used to be so hard
Now everything is easy ’cause of you
And our la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

Our house is a very, very, very fine house with two cats in the yard
Life used to be so hard
Now everything is easy ’cause of you
And our

I’ll light the fire while you place the flowers in the vase that you bought today

Songwriters: Graham Nash
Our House lyrics © Spirit Music Group