It doesn't happen every time, but if you search 'Miranda Lambert crying as she sings "The House That Built Me"' on Google, you'll get several pages of results, many with video.

The song is nine years old though, so what gives?

The answer is complicated and has to do with how close the Allen Shamblin and Tom Douglas-written ballad comes to mirroring her own raising. It's almost like they were spying on her, which would have been real ironic since Lambert's parents were private investigators (they weren't spying, we promise).

Her parents were private investigators who struggled when the local economy went south, which led to homelessness for the family of four.

This week's episode of The Secret History of Country Music explores why Lambert gets emotional singing her most popular song and uncovers the obstacles her family overcame to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. How bad was it? We found a couple sources that paint a pretty dire picture for the Texas family. Watch to learn her story and the long, complicated story of a song that two men simply would not give up on despite being turned down again and again. Blake Shelton plays a major role in this story, but we saved for the end. Many thought her tears had something to do with him after their divorce, but the truth is it had more to do with her parents.


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