Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Twenty One Pilots' frontman Tyler Joseph delivers an uplifting tribute to his mom in the 2013 release, "House of Gold."
In this song about the fear of aging, Joseph's mom asks her singer/songwriter son if he'll take care of her in her twilight years. Written as an exchange between him and his mom, Joseph sings, "She asked me, 'Son, when I grow old / Will you buy me a house of gold? / And when your father turns to stone / Will you take care of me?'"
Joseph responds that he will not only make her the "Queen of everything you see," but he'll also bring her fame and cure her of disease.
"House of Gold" is the fourth track of the indie pop group's third studio album, Vessel. The song, which features Joseph on the ukulele and bandmate Josh Dun on the drums, became a top-10 hit on Billboard's U.S. Alternative Songs chart. The album ascended to #21 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and was certified "gold" with more than 500,000 copies sold. The song had initially appeared as a bonus track on Twenty One Pilots' second studio album, Regional at Best.
The name Twenty One Pilots was derived from an Arthur Miller play called All My Sons, in which a World War II contractor knowingly delivers defective airplane parts, reasoning that fixing the problems would be too costly. The tragic result is the loss of 21 pilots. Apparently, the bandmates were inspired by the lessons of the story — to avoid shortcuts and always act with integrity.
Hailing from Columbus, Ohio, Twenty One Pilots' early fan base was made up of Ohio State University students.
The video below was shot against the stunning backdrop of Sydney Harbor during the group's Australian Tour. The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...
"House of Gold"
Written by Tyler Joseph. Performed by Twenty One Pilots.
She asked me, "Son, when I grow old,
Will you buy me a house of gold?
And when your father turns to stone,
Will you take care of me?"
I will make you
Queen of everything you see
I'll put you on the map
I'll cure you of disease
Let's say we up and left this town
And turned our future upside-down
We'll make pretend that you and me
Lived ever after, happily
She asked me, "Son, when I grow old,
Will you buy me a house of gold?
And when your father turns to stone,
Will you take care of me?"
I will make you
Queen of everything you see
I'll put you on the map
I'll cure you of disease
And since we know that dreams are dead
And life turns plans up on their head
I will plan to be a bum
So I just might become someone
She asked me, "Son, when I grow old,
Will you buy me a house of gold?
And when your father turns to stone,
Will you take care of me?"
I will make you
Queen of everything you see
I'll put you on the map
I'll cure you of disease
Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.
