"A House Is Not a Motel" is a song written by Arthur Lee and first released by Love on their 1967 album Forever Changes.
| "A House Is Not a Motel" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Love | |
| from the album Forever Changes | |
| A-side | "Alone Again Or" |
| Released | January 1968 |
| Recorded | September 10, 1967 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 3:25 |
| Label | Elektra |
| Songwriter(s) | Arthur Lee |
| Producer(s) | |
Lyrics and music
editThe song was likely inspired by the song "A House Is Not a Home" written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, given that Arthur Lee was a fan of their work. It features a descending/ascending psychedelic melody and a folk-rock rhythm.[1] Lee's vocal performance has been described as snarling.[2] According to a friend, Lee got the line about blood mixing with mud turning grey from a Vietnam War veteran.[3]
The song begins with a 12-string guitar playing a riff in E minor. An electric guitar comes in after the second verse, playing a phrase on the top two strings. After the third verse, there is a drum break and twin guitar solo with strange vocal noises. It is one of the most sparsely arranged songs on the album.[4]
Reception
editAllMusic's Matthew Greenwald called "A House Is Not a Motel" " another one of Arthur Lee's meditations of his own personal world, and it's both beautiful and brutal at the same time." He praised the "acid-magnified imagery" and considered it to be one of the standouts on the album.[1] Considered to be "wonderfully dark" by The AV Club's Kyle Fowle, he wrote that it was "the most rock-oriented song, complete with blazing guitar solos that underscore the lyrical exploration of the chaos and inhumanity of war."[5] David Barker considered the song to be an inversion of "Sympathy for the Devil" by the Rolling Stones and believed that the house Lee was referring to was a church while the motel symbolised the decrepitude of the world.[3]
Treble magazine ranked the song as the 13th best song of the 1960s, calling it "an increasingly escalating series of apocalyptic visions sandwiched between folk-rock plucks and a fiery electric freakout."[6] The German magazine Musikexpress ranked "A House Is Not a Motel" number 429 in its list of the 700 best songs of all time.[7] Uncut listed the song as one of its 50 essential songs from the Summer of Love.[8] The Spanish magazine Hipersonica ranked the song 23rd best of the 1950s and 1960s.[9]
References
edit- ^ a b Greenwald, Matthew. "A House Is Not a Motel Song Review". AllMusic.
- ^ Barnes, Ken (August 6, 2006). "Arthur Lee, the legend rock almost forgot". USA Today. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- ^ a b Barker, David (2006). 33 1/3 Greatest Hits, Volume 1. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 1441112340.
- ^ Rooksby, Rikky (2001). Inside Classic Rock Tracks: Songwriting and Recording Secrets of 100 Great Songs from 1960 to the Present Day. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 44. ISBN 0879306548.
- ^ Fowle, Kyle (February 10, 2015). "Forever Changes is a stunning indictment of The Summer Of Love". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- ^ "Counter-Culture: The Top 100 Songs of the '60s". Treble. August 9, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- ^ "Die 700 besten Songs aller Zeiten: Plätze 450 bis 401". Musikexpress (in German). March 3, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- ^ "Feed Your Head: 50 Essential Songs from the Summer of Love". Uncut. April 20, 2017.
- ^ "Las 101 mejores canciones de rock de los años 50 y 60". Hipersonica (in Spanish). June 17, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2018.[permanent dead link]