“Hearth and Home” is a uniquely American metaphor, but it conveys a message of the heart which resonates in every culture. Stuart Hamblen’s “This Old House” is an unforgettable expression of that message in song.
Hearth & Home
It’s roots have penetrated deep into Western culture, appearing early in the form of the Greek goddess Hestia. Hestia was the guardian of domesticity, the family and the economy of the home. The Romans called her Vestia and from her derived their evening prayers – the vespers. She appeared also in the evening star, Venus. Modern notions of home economics and the nourishing, stabilizing functions of family are under Vestia’s purview.
But even more, “there’s no place like home” is a Biblical ideal, which finds its highest expression in the husband/wife relation and the traditional family. Modernist sensibilities to the contrary, man is depicted in the Bible as “defender of the faith” and woman as “keeper at home.” Husband, wife, and children — the nuclear family — is presented in the Bible as the cornerstone of society.
Nonetheless, woman occupies a prominent position as provider at the side of her husband. Chapter 31 of Proverbs portrays her as a shrewd real estate investor and tiller of the soil. Her roots are in property, which she transforms into a home.
She considers a field and buys it; From her earnings she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength, and makes her arms strong. She senses that her gain is good; Her lamp does not go out at night.
All of this is wrapped up in the idea of “home.” That haven to which man retires for contentment and revitalization. This conjures images of wood burning stoves and families finding happiness together in the simple pleasures. We see it in countless colloquialisms and clichs:
* Home is where the heart is
* Home is where you hang your hat
* Keep the home fires burning
* I’ll be home for Christmas
* Home is where you hang your hat
* Home is where the heart is
This Old House
Perhaps no piece of Americana captures the concept “there’s no place like home” better than the song This Old House, which topped the charts in 1954. It is one of our most popular songs of remembrance. The song was written and published by Stuart Hamblen in 1954, and was immediately picked up by Rosemary Clooney who made it a #1 hit in both America and Britain that year. Shakin Stevens also did a rendition in England. But what human drama could ever have inspired such a poignant strain?
Stuart Hamblen was a radio personality of the 1920′s who sang and acted with stars like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and John Wayne. The song was born in an old house that Hamblen and a friend stumbled across on a hunting trip. Inside they were shocked to discover the dead body of the homeowner. In a moment of inspiration Hamblen scribbled the song on his brown paper lunch bag. The melody came to him later in the week.
The words and the music of “This Old House” interact in a marvelous way to create a stirring mood. The verse depicts the aging human body in the decay of an old, dilapidated house. The need for this earthly tabernacle will soon be gone in the face of impending death. But this grim prospect is mitigated by the snappy bounce and rhythm of the tune, representing the joy of the soul anticipating a return to its Maker.
Hamblen was a devote Christian, capturing in song the promise of Christ at John 11: 23-26: Jesus said to her:
“Your brother shall rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
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