What does "House of Memories" by Panic! at the Disco mean?
SONG MEANING: "House of Memories" is about a relationship that's now over. Keep scrolling to learn more. The lyric-by-lyric breakdown begins below.
The Meaning of "House of Memories"
It's time to begin explaining the last three songs from Death of a Bachelor by Panic! at the Disco. The album's been taking some interesting turns and been maintaining a steady theme of looking back at happier, wilder days while keeping up a steady appreciation for how good the future can be with a little effort and determination to be the best. "House of Memories" continues this theme using intense, choral-esque music (a sound Urie calls "operatic and evil stuff" in the Twitter video below) backing Brendon Urie's waving, strong voice. He's the man caught in a storm, but among all of the wind and waves, he and his voice are standing strong, ready for whatever comes next.
Lyric Meaning Explanation for "House of Memories" by Panic! at the Disco
"House of Memories" is about a past relationship that's now over. The relationship was "built / On memories." It was strong and beautiful, but something happened, and now it's over. Urie doesn't give us the details of the breaking up; he focuses on how hard life is now that his once lover is gone.
In Verse 1, Urie sings, "If you're a lover, you should know / The lonely moments just get lonelier / The longer you're in love / Than if you were alone." When you spend a lot of time loving someone, you want to be with them even more and begin to miss them more deeply than you would feel lonely if you were still single. Your happiness and life get more dependent on that other person, Urie is saying.
He continues, "Memories turn into daydreams / Become a taboo." Memories of spending time with the significant other become things that run around inside one's head, making one wish for those times again. Because these may make you feel more lonely, they can "[b]ecome a taboo"--in this case, something one is afraid to think of.
Urie sings that he doesn't "want to be afraid" and that "[t]he deeper that I go / It takes my breath away." The relationship was beautiful while it lasted. He describes it as "Soft hearts, electric souls" and remembers it as being "[h]eart to heart and eyes to eyes." Now that he's caught himself remembering that happy past, he asks, "Is this taboo?" hoping that he isn't making himself long for those memories in a way that will only depress him.
The Chorus focuses more on the old days at first, but quickly turns dark: "Baby we built this house / On memories." Their lives were full of good times together and were based on memories of time spent together. They loved each other--they had history with each other. He calls it a house because it was strong and felt lasting.
But because it's over, he begs her to "[t]ake my picture now / Shake it 'til you see it." He wants her to remember him and to "[p]romise me a place / In your house of memories." He foresees a day when her "fantasies / Become [her] legacy." This could mean that she never accomplished the things she wanted to do, or it could mean that she actually did accomplish those things. Because she's building a house in this chorus, I feel/think that she'll have accomplished her fantasies and dreams at this point, but that's just my perspective. Whatever the case, he wants to at least know that she never forgot him, no matter where she ends up.
Verse 2 is far shorter than Verse 1, and it's just as well for Panic! at the Disco's sole member Brendon Urie since this seems to be such a painful subject for him. He sings, "I think of you from time to time / More than I thought I would." He misses her and realizes now that she was "kind" and that he "was too young to know / That's all that really matters." He finishes the verse by acknowledging, "I was a fool." Brendon Urie missed out, but he's grown wiser and understands what happened.
In the Bridge, Urie sings, "Those thoughts of / Past lovers / They'll always haunt me." He knows that memories of the women he was close to in the past will stay with him--they will inhabit his "house of memories." And while he only wishes he "[c]ould believe / You'd never wrong me," the past seems to tell the opposite story. At the least, though, he wants to know that she'll "[r]emember / [him] in the same way / As I remember you." He misses her and feels sad that they parted--he hopes it was meaningful and emotional enough to mean something to her too.
"House of Memories" by Panic! at the Disco is a sad song--one of the sadder ones on the album, and the "operatic and evil [musical] stuff" gives a sinister background that looms over melancholic and wistful lyrics. It's interesting to see Urie switch gears here so easily, and based on this song, it was something he needed to say, and I'm glad he did.
