Archive was formed by Londoners Darius Keeler and Danny Griffiths in 1994 and began as an electronica project. At the beginning, they mixed Bristol-style, Massive Attack, Portishead with Rap. The first album of the band, Londinium released in 1996 (with Roya Arab and Rosko John as guest vocalists). The second album, Take my Head, (which the band hates) was released in 1999 (with a new guest vocalist Suzanne Wooder), it is much more melodic than Londinium. The first song of the album, You Make Me Feel, illustrates this change in the Archive's music. After being dropped by their label and more changes in the lineup, the band seemed to hit its stride on the third album You All Look The Same To Me (2002), featuring singer Craig Walker (formerly of Power of Dreams), which took a decided turn toward more progressive music (with some Progressive Rock influences, notably Pink Floyd whose indelible influence is audible on tracks such as 'Finding it so Hard' and 'Again'), while still maintaining electronic elements. The band saw growing popularity and critical acclaim, especially in France, Greece, Germany and Poland. After recording two more artisticallyโbut not too commerciallyโsuccessful albums, Michel Vaillant (2003) and Noise (2004), Walker left the band for reasons the band and he will not talk about. The project continued on as a Collective, with new vocalists, Pollard Berrier and Dave Pen. In May 2006 they released the album Lights with Pollard Berrier on lead vocals, who is also a member/guest member of the innovative group, "Bauchklang" - a completely vocal beat-box (Vocal Groove) group based in Vienna, Austria. Archive released a live album, entitled,Live at Paris Zenith, in May, 2007 - which was recorded on January 20th, 2007 at the sold out Zentih Arena in Paris. Rolling Stone called it, "The best live album ever made." Archive continues to tour and is working on a number of forthcoming releases in the near future.
Archive are a Collective, not a band.
Half Built Houses
Archive Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Half built are walls in this shade
Never completed never made into a home
Half kitchen tables
Half understanding of my love for you
Can't ignore feelings
Can't ignore all these signs
Signs I can't ignore
Signs I can't ignore
Signs I can't ignore anymore
Signs I can't ignore
Signs I can't ignore anymore
Built and construct a story
Then smash and destroy
Concept and meaning
Smash all this meaning every time
Half built are houses
Half built are walls in this shade
Signs I can't ignore
Signs I can't ignore anymore
Signs I can't ignore
Signs I can't ignore anymore
These signs I can't ignore
Signs I can't ignore anymore
There are signs I can't ignore anymore
The song "Half Built Houses" by Archive describes the feeling of being stuck in a halfway-built relationship that never became a home. The lyrics "Half built are houses, half built are walls in this shade, never completed never made into a home" suggest that the relationship is incomplete and feels like a construction that was never finished. The half-built walls represent the barriers between the two people that are keeping them from fully connecting and building their life together. It's a metaphor for a relationship that has not been given enough time or attention to become a complete and functioning one.
The lyrics go on to describe the struggles and feelings of the singer. The lines "half kitchen tables, half understanding of my love for you, can't ignore feelings, can't ignore all these signs" express the incomplete and disjointed state of the relationship, while also suggesting that the singer is trying to understand the other person's feelings and motives. However, despite their efforts to ignore the signs that there may be something missing in the relationship, they cannot help but feel that something is wrong. The repeated refrain of "signs I can't ignore anymore" underscores the singer's growing awareness that the relationship is not what they want it to be.
Overall, the song "Half Built Houses" is a poignant reflection on the challenges of building a relationship and the consequences of not investing enough time and effort into making it work. It suggests that a relationship cannot thrive if it is not built on a strong foundation of love, trust, and communication.
Line by Line Meaning
Half built are houses
Houses are only partially built, suggesting that they are not complete or functional.
Half built are walls in this shade
Even the walls are incomplete and the shadow they cast connotes a sense of incompleteness and uncertainty.
Never completed never made into a home
The unfinished nature of the house means that it could never truly become a home for anyone.
Half kitchen tables
The kitchen table is only partially built, once again emphasizing an incomplete and unusable state.
Half understanding of my love for you
The artist's love is not fully understood, perhaps by the recipient or even the artist themselves.
Can't ignore feelings
Despite any confusion or ambiguity, the singer cannot ignore their emotions.
Can't ignore all these signs
There are noticeable indications that something is wrong or incomplete that cannot be overlooked.
Signs I can't ignore
These signs, presumably indicating the incompleteness and confusion mentioned previously, are impossible to disregard.
Signs I can't ignore anymore
These signs were once perhaps ignorable, but have now become unavoidable and persistent.
Built and construct a story
The phrase 'built and construct' implies a sense of effort and purpose in creating a narrative or explanation.
Then smash and destroy
However, this narrative is ultimately dismantled and destroyed, suggesting that the process of constructing it was ultimately futile.
Concept and meaning
What was once believed to be a coherent and meaningful idea is now revealed to be flawed or empty.
Smash all this meaning every time
The process of constructing and deconstructing meaning has become cyclical and repetitive, with no satisfactory resolution.
These signs I can't ignore
Once again, the singer emphasizes the importance and inescapability of the 'signs' they have been encountering.
Signs I can't ignore anymore
The repetition of this line highlights the severity of the singer's struggle with this incompleteness and uncertainty, and the fact that it cannot be overcome easily.
There are signs I can't ignore anymore
The song concludes with a restatement of the same idea, affirming that these irreconcilable signs cannot be ignored or dismissed, and must be faced head on.
Contributed by Evelyn R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.