Sixteen years old, only just found out today Nowhere to go, but she's leaving anyway The taxi waits outside as she turns the key Leaves a note behind that he'll never read And as the rain pours down, the meter starts to read She looks back one last time in tears from the backseat House on the hill, a fortress on solid ground Is now shuttered and still, a ghost of its former self Kneel at the alter this pantheon covered in dust, sing Hallelujah Eighteen years old, enlisted and boarding a plane He bought what they sold, just like a moth to the flame He's scared and all alone in a distant place Don't want to let it show, but the fear's on his face Got a girl back home that he'll see next May And what he doesn't know is there's one on the way House on the hill, a fortress on solid ground Is now shuttered and still, a ghost of its former self Kneel at the alter this pantheon covered in dust, sing Hallelujah And so she wakes and breaks inside her shell He wrote a note that got delivered to her old address She's not coming back, he's not coming back House on the hill, fortress on hollow ground Standing here still, make this a solemn vow Here at the alter this pantheon's resurrected, sing Hallelujah