Released July 8, 2011 Label Self-released Producer(s) Twenty One Pilots | Length 2:43 Writer(s) Tyler Joseph "Clear"
(14) "House of Gold"
(15) | |
"House of Gold" is a song written and recorded by American musical duo Twenty One Pilots, from their third studio album Vessel. The song initially appeared as a bonus track on their second self-released album Regional at Best, albeit with a different vocal track. "House of Gold" was released as the third single from Vessel, impacting radio on August 6, 2013. The music video for the song was released on October 2.
Contents
According to Tyler Joseph, he wrote the song for his mother, Kelly Joseph.
Music videos
Two videos have been created for the song. The original video was directed by Mark C. Eshleman. The new video was directed instead by Warren Kommers. According to Josh Dun, the new music video was filmed on Will Smith's ranch outside of Los Angeles, California.
The first music video (directed by Eshleman) is a very simple video. The opening shots are of the ceiling of a house. Joseph is then shown playing his ukulele in front of a shoulder-mount camcorder on a table. He is also twitching and shaking his head (which he claims to help him keep calm during live shows and performances). During the first verse of the song, Dun is shown playing a drum kit which is made up of three things: A bass drum; a snare drum; and a tambourine mounted on the bass drum. He is also shown twitching slightly while playing. In between shots, the footage cuts to static, to show that it's a home video. After the last chorus Dun disappears, and Joseph is left sitting against a wall, twitching and fidgeting with his hands. After the song ends, Joseph "sits in silence", which is an allusion to the lyrics of Car Radio ("and now I just sit in silence"), and slowly starts to play ukulele. During this, the credits roll and the video cuts to black.
The second music video begins with multiple shots of prairies on Will Smith's ranch. The last shot shows Joseph playing the ukulele in front of a threshing machine with a house behind him while he sings the lyrics of the song. It is then revealed that Joseph's legs have been severed off and his torso is floating in mid-air. It shows him again, this time floating in mid-air next to a truck and in front of the same house. The video introduces Dun laying on the ground, also missing his legs, who then crawls underneath the truck and pounds on the engine to make a drum sound. The next shot shows both Joseph and Dun floating next to each other while Dun beats a tambourine on his chest or plays a snare and cymbal. It also shows them through the window of the house while an unknown person watches. The video shows a pair of legs, most likely Dun's, using a wheel of the threshing machine as a kick drum while the other pair of legs, likely Joseph's, stumble around. The video ends with Dun back on the ground propped up against the truck, while Joseph still floats and plays the ukulele. The sun then sets, Joseph notices, and his body falls to the ground.
Live performances
On August 8, 2013, Twenty One Pilots performed "House of Gold" on Conan in their late night debut.