House, Not A Home - Bryan Davis (Demo) w/ lyrics

Raw 4-track demo recording from 1994 (vocals / guitar only). This had been on a cassette tape sitting in a box for 30 years. Finally decided to digitize it. I wrote it as a male / female duet - but out of necessity - recorded all the vocals myself to demo it. I'm not a singer (obviously), but I decided the music and lyrics were decent enough for people to hear it. Plus, filtering out the tape hiss and tweaking the EQ made it a lot more listenable.
The reason why I wanted it to be a duet - is that the lyrics can be interpreted from the perspective of either a single dad or a single mom (and by extension, the child of a single parent). Note: The 'us' in the last verse refers to the parent / child relationship being threatened by the return of the ex-spouse.
The song is not autobiographical. My parents are still happily married. But many of my friends (including girlfriends) growing up lived with either their mom or their dad. They often confided in me and I internalized many of the harrowing stories that they shared in confidence. In my 20s, those stories were still very fresh. Beyond the isolation, pain, anxiety, sadness and anger that they felt, there was also a lot of love for the one parent who rose to the challenge of raising them on their own. So this is my humble ode to the single parent.
words / music - Bryan Davis © 1994
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