"House on the Hill" (Kevin Coyne, 1973)

"Well I'm going to the house upon the hill,
The place where they give you pills
The rooms are always chilled,
They're never cosy

Where they give three suits a year
And at Christmas time a bottle of beer
And at Easter time the mayor comes round,
He's always smiling

Where the old ladies sit by the garden wall
And they never hear the bluebird call
Never notice the leaves that fall cause they're all crazy

Where the red bus stands by the great big gate
The red bus that's always late,
You know why it's always late
Cause it's always empty

Funny, funny, funny, funny, oh so funny that's it's making me cry
Funny, funny, funny, funny, oh so funny Lord, sometimes I wish I could die.

Now this pagan life is getting me down, my brow is filled with a furl and a frown
My eyelids lower as low as can be but I'm not sleeping.

I wander round that Brixton Square with the bottles strewn everywhere
Under tables and under chairs and they're all broken
Where the big red face of the man on the beat Says Hey, have you had something to eat?
Thrusts out his yellow teeth, they're all for biting

Where I don't have a cent and I don't know how I'll pay the rent
I think I'll turn bent and make some money

So if you know a way I can go from out of this show you know
You could give me a golden glow but you're not trying
You'd never lift a regular hand, you call me a lazy man
Who on earth will ever understand I'm really trying

So I'm going to the house upon the hill, the place where they give you pills
And where the doctors they don't kill cause they're so friendly

Where the red bus stands by the great big gate
The red bus and it's always late, you know why it's always late

Because it's always empty"

Live Version on the BBC 1973