The Auteurs was a British alternative rock band of the 1990s.

Unfair… Read Full Bio ↴The Auteurs was a British alternative rock band of the 1990s.

Unfairly dismissed as the egotrip of acclaimed songwriter Luke Haines, The Auteurs were one of the unsung bands of the mid-nineties Britpop movement. Releasing their first record, New Wave, in 1993, the Auteurs were compared to Suede, and the resurgent glam-rock movement, and began to amass a reasonable cult following. 1994's second album, and commercial highlight, Now I'm A Cowboy, saw the band embracing at times a more contemporary sound, notably on the single Lenny Valentino, which probably remains Haines' best-known song. Now I'm A Cowboy was marked out by sprawling guitar lines as much as by Haines' inimitable lyrics, a kind of visceral social commentary. While touring this album in 1995, Haines jumped off a fifteen-foot wall, breaking both ankles, resulting in his being in a wheelchair for the rest of that year, recording the starker, angrier third album After Murder Park, most notable for the ballad-like lead single Unsolved Child Murder, released for Christmas at Haines own bidding. Following this, Haines took time out to work on other projects such as Black Box Recorder and Baader Meinhof, reforming the Auteurs in 1999 for the release of the mostly overlooked final album, How I Learned To Love The Bootboys.

While Haines remains widely respected for his lyrical eloquence and eye for the minutae of life, his eccentric, confrontational personality, and habit of styling himself as a louche ne'er-do-well, perhaps impeded the formation of a more affectionate bond with his fans. The Auteurs, similarly, tended to be respected rather more than they were loved.

Home Again
The Auteurs Lyrics

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Home Again
Housesitting again
Rifle through
Your possessions
and stuff
Things that you
Are ashamed of

Home again,
housesitting again
Looking through photos
At the back of your drawer
The way that you looked
When you were small

You're safe,
there's no prowler
No creeper in your lane
It's better than drugs
it's cool
To be in your home again

Home Again
housesitting again
It's just a little bit far
From the main crowd
Reading your poems
When you're not around

Home again,
housesitting again
Hospital letter,
a clinic on hold
A test that you took
Awaiting results

You're safe,
there's no prowler
No creeper in your lane
It's better than drugs

it's cool
To be in your home again

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Home Again by The Auteurs paint a picture of a person who is homesick and is housesitting for someone else. As they rifle through the possessions of the homeowner, they come across things that evoke a sense of shame. They then proceed to look through old photos of themselves and reflect on how they looked when they were young. The person finds solace in being in someone else's home, where they are safe and there are no creepy prowlers around.

The song is a reflection of the idea of home and how it can be both comforting and unsettling. The person in the song is homesick and finds comfort in being in someone else's home, but at the same time, they are confronted with their own shame and the memories of their past. The lyrics are quite introspective and melancholic, with a sense of longing and nostalgia.

Overall, Home Again is a beautiful song that offers a view of the dichotomy of home. It is both comforting and unsettling, and the person in the song reflects on their own feelings and memories in a way that is both poignant and touching.

Line by Line Meaning

Home Again
The feeling of being back in one's own house again.

housesitting again
Taking care of someone else's home while they're away.

Rifle through
To rummage through.

Your possessions
Items that you own.

and stuff
Additional things that you may not necessarily own or value.

Things that you
Owning issues that you wish to hide.

Are ashamed of
Feeling embarrassed or guilty of owning certain items.

Looking through photos
Examining pictures from the past.

At the back of your drawer
Found in the furthest corner of your storage compartment.

The way that you looked
Your physical appearance in the photos examined.

When you were small
When you were a child and memories were being created.