[Intro]

(Solo guitar lick with light steel slide. Mood: reflective.)

[Verse 1 ]

He lit up the town back in his younger days,

Pool stick in hand, livin' wild, set in his ways.

Taught me how to laugh when the world got mean,

But I saw the cracks in places no one had seen.

Six kids in his story, but one got away,

That wound stayed open till his dying day.

[Pre-Chorus – Male Vocals]

He loved us loud, but he hurt real quiet,

Kept it all in, never started a riot.

But I knew the truth, yeah, I saw the cost—

Of a man holdin' tight to the things that he lost.

[Chorus]

That house he built in Grafton

Where every runaway came back around.

The door was open, the porch light burned,

No matter how far, you could always return.

He was the rock, the fire, the shield—

Yeah, we all lived in the house that he built.

[Verse 2]

He traded whiskey for bedtime prayers,

Took those last two girls and showed he cared.

Put down the past, picked up the fight,

Stopped the partyin’ and stepped into the light.

But fate don’t care ‘bout the good you do—

When cancer comes, it comes for you.

[Pre-Chorus ]

He smiled through pain, cracked jokes through fear,

Told the best damn stories with a cold root beer.

He gave more than most men ever try—

Then slipped away without sayin’ goodbye.

[Chorus ]

That house he built in Grafton,

Where the walls knew joy and the pain stayed down.

He made it a home for the lost and broke,

With hugs, with laughs, with bad dad jokes.

He was the anchor, the light, the field—

Yeah, we still live in the house that he built.

[Bridge]

Eight years gone, still hurts like hell,

I see his smile in the stories we tell.

My brother broke when he took the keys,

Moved into the echo of memories.

And me? I joke, I laugh, I hide—

But I still talk to him in the middle of the night.

[Final Chorus ]

That house he built still stands so tall,

A home for hearts that had to fall.

He gave and gave 'til he had no more—

Now he’s the ghost behind that door.

He was the fight, the love, the shield—

Forever part of the house that he built.

[Outro]

He ain’t just gone, he ain’t just past—

(Female echo: “He ain’t just gone…”)

He’s the reason we still hold fast.

(Female: “Still hold fast…”)

And if you’re lost, just head up that hill—

You’ll find love in the house that he built.