Back to the Old House

Back to the Old House

The Smiths

The narrator in this song is speaking metaphorically of the longing for things to return as they once were. In this case, the narrator wishes he’d told the person in verse 2 that he had feelings for them, so he wonders idly whether they’d moved away, perhaps fantasizing of an instance in which he professes his feelings for them, though the line “But I never will,” is recognizing the fact that you cannot go back to the past no matter how much you’d like for things to be different.

PROPOSED SUGGESTION: Alongside the obvious indications that the song is about dealing with one’s past, it is also worth mentioning that the song may have been slightly motivated by the destruction of Morrissey’s childhood home in Queen’s Park, the old house he quite literally will never return to.