"White Houses" is a song written by American singer

Vanessa Carlton Vanessa Lee Carlton (born August 16, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Upon completion of her education at the School of American Ballet, Carlton chose to pursue singing instead, performing in New York City bars and clubs while ...

and Stephan Jenkins (lead singer of

Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major-label reco ...

), and recorded for Vanessa Carlton's second album ''

Harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...

'' (2004). Produced by Jenkins, it was released as the album's first single in 2004.

Production and composition

"White Houses" is structured around a 4/4

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note va ...

which ''

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender container with a rotating me ...

'' magazine has described as "bright" and "un-girly", and is backed by an

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

l arrangement that ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' magazine said "would make

Jim Steinman James Richard Steinman (November 1, 1947 – April 19, 2021) was an American composer, lyricist and record producer. He also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer. His work included songs in the adult contemporary, rock, dance, pop, mus ...

blush".Horan, Mark
"Vanessa Carlton — ''Harmonium''"
.

. March 1, 2005. Retrieved June 10, 2006. Carlton said of the song: "It's about

jealousy Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgus ...

, it's about losing your

virginity Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

, it's about living on your own. It's a story that most people can relate to ... It's really the journey of one girl and her perception of her environment and how she starts out as a wide-eyed person, but everyone gets hardened by life, but not necessarily to the point where you can't feel anymore." She has also said it is about "rites of passage." "White Houses" was the first song Carlton and Jenkins wrote together, and

Lindsey Buckingham Lindsey Adams Buckingham (born October 3, 1949) is an American musician and record producer, best known as the lead guitarist and male lead vocalist of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with Fl ...

of the band Fleetwood Mac played acoustic guitar on the track after Jenkins met Buckingham, who was recording in the same building as Carlton, and invited him to listen to the song. Carlton said, "he just came in, played this great riff, recorded it and then he left. It all happened very fast, and turned out amazing." The song provided the inspiration for a charity project
Building White Houses
. It began on November 9, 2004 and ended on December 31, 2005. Its aim was to raise money for

Habitat for Humanity International Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a C ...

Critical reception

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' compared the song to Carlton's debut single "

A Thousand Miles "A Thousand Miles" (originally titled "Interlude") is the debut single by American pop singer Vanessa Carlton. Produced by Curtis Schweitzer and Ron Fair, the song was released as the lead single for Carlton's album '' Be Not Nobody'' (2002). ...

" from 2002, defining "White Houses" as "another spazzy, arpeggiated single ... which is not about the real

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

but does kind of conjure the Bush twins jamming in a drop-top". A critic for '' Billboard'' said of the song: "it bears the do-it-my-way signature of a singer/songwriter who relies on piano; a meandering, storytelling lyrical style; and deceptively sweet vocals that underlie an intellectual bent ... The result is a highly original composition that makes you really want to listen and understand — and then sing along."

magazine presented a much more negative summary of the song, by saying that it "basically sums up everything that's wrong with ''Harmonium'': An overly familiar vocal melody, juvenile "Dear Diary" lyrics (with lots of references to 'boys' plus a cringe-worthy reference to John Steinbeck) ... And a bombastic backing arrangement." ''Billboard'' critic Jonathon Newan describes White Houses as "beautifully humble and amazingly crafted. The in-depth lyrics which almost any nomad can relate to on a person level gives it an extraordinary inner-meaning, and the spectacular background arrangement is something that most pop songs lack. It's profound. It should be Carlton's next hit."

Commercial performance

The single reached number 86 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, though it peaked within the top 40 on ''Billboard''

Top 40 Mainstream Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

and

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

charts. ''

Slant Slant can refer to: Bias *Bias or other non-objectivity in journalism, politics, academia or other fields Technical * Slant range, in telecommunications, the line-of-sight distance between two points which are not at the same level * Slant d ...

'' magazine named it the sixth best single of 2004, writing: " t'sthe kind of song that truly cements a career ... poignant, bloody, fleeting, and beautiful, much like adolescence". ''

'' magazine ranked "White Houses" at number 43 on its "100 Best Songs of 2004" list. The song failed to chart in Japan, and in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, "Private Radio" was the album's first single. This remains Carlton's last appearance on the Hot 100 to date.

Live performances

Anti-folk singer

Kimya Dawson Kimya Dawson (born November 17, 1972) is an American folk singer-songwriter, one half of the anti-folk duo the Moldy Peaches. Dawson's work with the Moldy Peaches earned them a cult following and critical acclaim, with their 2001 song "Anyone El ...

performed a cover of "White Houses" during a live concert at

Falmouth, Maine Falmouth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 12,444 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area. This northern suburb of Portlan ...

in May 2005. Carlton had previously contributed backing vocals to a track on Dawson's 2004 album '' Hidden Vagenda''.

Controversy

Carlton appeared to world-premiere the video on MTV's ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (known commonly as ''TRL'') was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by ...

'' in the U.S. on August 11, 2004, and it debuted on VH1 on August 26. MTV, VH1 and some radio stations censored the song because of its lyrics. Carlton later described the situation as "just, you know, frustrating sometimes because they can pick and choose, which I don't think is fair if you want to make a statement." She attributed the censoring of the song to the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy involving Janet Jackson, which had occurred earlier that year.

''Punk'd''

"White Houses" became the subject of a prank that

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer, entrepreneur, and former model. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a People's Choice Award, and nominations for two Young Artist Awards, a ...

pulled on Carlton for the MTV television show ''

Punk'd ''Punk'd'' is an American hidden camera– practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003. It was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, with Kutcher serving as producer and host. It bears a resemblance to both t ...

''. During Carlton's rehearsal for a scheduled performance on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'' in November 2004, Kutcher's ''Punk'd'' crewmembers (disguised as staff from ''The Tonight Show'') said Carlton needed to change both the bridge of the song and the line "I'm too thin" (in light of the publicity surrounding

Mary-Kate Olsen Mary-Kate Olsen (born June 13, 1986) is an American businesswoman, fashion designer, equestrian, and former actress. She began her acting career nine months after her birth, sharing the role of Michelle Tanner with her twin sister Ashley Olsen ...

's bout of

anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gr ...

). Upon realisation that it was a trick, Carlton told Kutcher, "All I have to say is 'thank the fucking Lord.'" (She performed the original version of the song on ''The Tonight Show'' on November 18, 2004, and the ''Punk'd'' episode was aired in May 2005.)

Personnel

*Lead vocals by Vanessa Carlton *Backing vocals by Vanessa Carlton and Stephan Jenkins *Mixed by Mark "Spike" Stent at Olympic Studio, London, UK *Piano by Vanessa Carlton * Bass by

Arion Salazar Third Eye Blind is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major-label recor ...

*Acoustic guitar by

Electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

by Arion Salazar and Jesse Tobias * Drums by Abe Laboriel Jr. *Strings arranged and conducted by

Ron Fair Ronald Fair is an American A&R executive, record producer, record executive, musical arranger, recording engineer and conductor. In a career that has spanned over 30 years at major record labels he has produced and arranged hits for several ar ...

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

by Stephan Jenkins

Music video

The music video was directed by

Sophie Muller Sophie Luise Elisabeth Muller (born 31 January 1962) is a British music video director who has directed more than 300 music videos. She won a Grammy Award for Annie Lennox's 1992 '' Diva'' video album, and an MTV Video Music Award for Lennox's so ...

and features Carlton singing and playing piano in a large room, while a second Carlton dances around the room. Carlton drew on her past experience as a ballet dancer for the performance.

Track listings

*Japanese 5" CD single #"White Houses" #"C'est la Vie" (live) #"Papa" (live)

Charts

Notes

References

*Kenny, Hayley
"From Pandemonium to ''Harmonium''"
''Synthesis''. Retrieved June 10, 2006. *Vineyard, Jennifer and Marino, Kelly
"Sick Of Sitting Down, Vanessa Carlton Gets Up And Dances"
MTV News. July 20, 2004. Retrieved June 10, 2006. *Ives, Brian and Bottomley, C
"Vanessa Carlton: Cast Your Fate To The Wind"
VH1. December 20, 2004. Retrieved June 10, 2006. * "Vanessa Carlton: ''Billboard'' Singles" ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

''. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
"Top Pop Songs of 2004: 1—100"
''Rock on the Net''. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
"Vanessa Carlton"
''

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...

''. Retrieved June 10, 2006. *Sanneh, Kelefa
"Vanessa Carlton Squared"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Late Edition — Final, Section 2, pg. 23, Column 1, August 22, 2004.

External links

Lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:White Houses (Song) Vanessa Carlton songs 2004 singles Music videos directed by Sophie Muller Songs with feminist themes Songs written by Stephan Jenkins Pop ballads Songs written by Vanessa Carlton 2004 songs A&M Records singles Universal Music Japan singles