Oh Lord won't you tell me, I'm sure I don't know
Who makes the plans that change our lives so
From a place in the country so peaceful and calm
We moved up to London as the bombs fell around
To a house by the river where the rent it was cheap
The landlord he told us, "It's yours to keep
For regular payment week after week
You'll always have a roof under which you can sleep"
The years past by, the war came to an end
We lived out our lives, did nothing to offend
But the landlord's conditions yearly they grew
With the size of his gut and his housing values
He'd kneel on a Sunday and pray to the Lord
For the deals of love his world cannot afford
When the bastard he came around to put up our rent
We swallowed our pride and we smiled our best
Bricks and mortar, kingdom of stone
Where do you go when you're all alone?
They'll carve your name where you lie
And I for one no tears will cry
Greed knows no boundaries, greed doesn't feel
I'm damned if I'll die for a profiting deal
The woman next door, she just passed away
Because the rent got so high that she just couldn't pay
And there in the bed she closed up her eyes
The last time she gazed on this world of lies
With nowhere to go and nothing to say
She went to the next world, and the bastard he smiled
Bricks and mortar, kingdom of stone
Where do you go when you're all alone?
They'll carve your name where you lie
And I for one no tears will cry
Oh Lord won't you tell me, I'm sure I don't know
What makes some people so callous and cold
I've lived in this house for forty-four years
My children were born here, it's here I'll grow old
A curse on you bastard landlord, be damned
Who needs one more house like a beach needs more sand
I'll stay here until I'm done, only nobody knows
How God can let one man treat others so