Temporary Home

This poignant ballad is a track from American country artist Carrie Underwood's third studio album, Play On.

In this song Underwood sings about her Christian belief that "life on this Earth is just passing through" and heaven is the final destination. She co-penned the song with Zac Maloy and Luke Laird. It was the first time that combination of songwriters had worked together though Lard previously co -wrote Underwood's hit singles, "So Small" and "Last Name." The trio spent a two-day writing session and on the second day Underwood came in with an idea she wanted to explore with her two co-writers. Laird recalled to USA Today: "She had the whole thing mapped out. She had the title, knew basically what she wanted each verse to say. She didn't have anything actually written down, but that made a huge difference. Most songs, even when I'm writing with other writers, we don't have them that mapped out, so we're just filling in the pieces. But she really knew what she wanted to say." Zac Maloy explained in an interview with ASCAP: "Carrie had had this thought that, I believe, she read about in a book that life is a temporary home. I think it's an amazing song and feel pretty proud to be a part of the writing process for a song like that. I hear so many people talk about how they were so touched by it. I had messages on my e-mail, Facebook and Twitter saying, 'This song helped me get through something traumatic.' I think the song is great and is a beautiful three-part story about how [everything is] OK; this is just temporary, and you'll get through it."

The song depicts in three episodes a six-year-old boy in a foster home, a single mother in a hostel and a dying man surrounded by family members in a hospital - all of whom see their present situations as only temporary. Laird told USA Today, "This song was very emotional for Carrie. If you heard our work tape, you'd know she was really in it." He added that he didn't connect as emotionally with the song, even though he drew from his personal experiences to write it, though he did relate to the first verse. "Growing up, when I was young, I had foster brothers and sisters," he said. "This was probably for only four or five years, but this really took me back there, thinking about these kids who never really have a place. For me, that's what helped me write that verse." Not long after they'd written the song Laird got some bad news that his badly ill grandmother hadn't long to go. "I had to go home to Pennsylvania in May," he said. "I got a call while was at the nursing home, 'Hey, Carrie cut 'Temporary Home'.' I was excited to get a Carrie cut, but it was weird, because I was losing my grandmother." The next day, Laird's grandmother passed away. "I liked the song, but, until that moment, it was weird how it hadn't hit me on an emotional level," he said. "But Carrie really, really wanted to have this song. I just felt honored that she had this idea and wanted to write it with us."