Dream House

by @grayland

Liner Notes

#americana

Here's a story about a family that thought they'd found their perfect home!! Moral of the story: Be careful what you wish for!!

Lyrics

Dream House by Gary Ray Knowland

We finally bought our dream house
in the country far away My family just loved it and we're moving in to stay

The place is on a lone tall hill there's an old graveyard nearby I guess we never had a clue we were disturbing those who died

There's terror on the doorstep there's horror on the hill Truth is out the window reality's surreal Can't make it go away no matter what we try Angry souls will haunt us til we sell the place or die ...Sell the place or die

They terrorize us every night we've tried to ask them why Found a medium to speak for us and beg them to subside

Still it just keeps getting worse they bang and scream all night Something scratched my daughter's face it's down to flee or fight it's down to flee or fight

There's terror on the doorstep there's horror on the hill Truth is out the window reality's surreal Can't make it go away no matter what we try Angry souls will haunt us til we sell the place or die ...Sell the place or die

Well we finally sold our dream house and we moved real far away We're trying to forget it all and we're living day to day

But every creak and noise brings fear in the dark I strain my eyes I pray they haven't followed us our dream house has changed our lives We can never ease our minds

© 2025 Grayland Studios

Comments

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Two of the last three people who lived in the house straight across from mine have died there. I strongly suspect the person living there now will too. Good thing I’m nice, and not very superstitious. 😆 Nice storytelling, and great music to carry it.

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Country horror! Somehow I've never felt graveyards to be scary; they seem restful to me instead. Maybe I need to do a graveyard song someday, to capture that feeling as well as you capture the house-built-on-a-graveyard horror movie thing. #tit4tat if you're doing that.

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Amazing harmonies! Love the journey you take us on with this story. Great twang you got going on as well. You nailed exactly what you set out to do! I love this set of lyrics in the chorus:

"There's terror on the doorstep there's horror on the hill Truth is out the window reality's surreal"

Whether intentional or not, and beyond the ghost-iness of it all, you nailed the sense of unease that grows from an uncertain future. Really palpable and REAL. Nice and creepy little American folktale!

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@nadine

Nice Americana. The style works so well with the lyrics and story. Reminds me of many horror movies I watched... Guess this house is haunted :O A sonic delight but definitely not for that family. #tit4tat

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@opossum

Well, this song is a little scary! But then I realized this was the house where I spent last winter. I was pooping everywhere in their attic and making lots of noise. I wonder if they thought I was a ghost? Well, anyway, you have written something really catchy and cool (and a wee bit scary!) Love the music and your country-ish vocals! Oh shit, there is a twist at the end! These poor folks moved and are still being haunted! Noice!

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Nothing like a good ghost story song....Love that little raw almost yodely sound - like Tyler Childers - that adds so much anguish to this one. And the way that the harmony feels like it could even be the ghost singing along mocking the narrator a little bit. Also the slow pacing really feels like a ghost story.

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Aww hell yeah! A Grayland horror song! Scary lyrics tell this haunted tale brilliantly! Your melody fits this perfectly! And that is some awesomely spooky music! I love, Love, LOVE that you told a complete story then threw in a twist at the end!! UNHOLY SHIT BATMAN...THE GHOSTS MAY HAVE FOLLOWED THEM! It's a complete Stephen King song!!!

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@wcritter

Very nice.

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@sycophant

Another great song. You are having an amazing FAWM! Really enjoyed the narrative of this one. Gives me real Neil Young vibes.

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@donna

Ooooh, a lovely dark story. ;) Reminds me of a lot of quite good movies or series in the haunted house genre. A nice touch making the music country. That pedal steel is wonderful, and your vocals are very pleasing.

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Oh yeah a sort of ghostly! Countryfied! I like this really different and interesting, nice solo.

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really dig the descending melody on the last line of each verse, very cool riff. and that terror on the doorstep/horror on the hill line manages to evoke memories of a specific neighborhood I can't quite remember, like I can almost picture the house just from that line alone.

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This is a fabulous song! I wanted to sing along right away. Love the Rockabilly sound too.

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@dhiatt

Love the narrative, I'm still chuckling. Very fun song! Love how the pedal steel guitar (?) sounds eerie and haunting -- very appropriate. Awesome outro lick!

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Omg, that pedal steel sound! So beautiful! is it a real one, plug in, or guitar? Your voice sounds like Randy Newman to me, love it !

[FAWM]