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
At the street by the river where the rent, it was cheap
The landlord, he told us, "It's yours to keep"
For a regular payment, week after week
You'll always have a roof under which you can sleep
The years had passed 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 'round to raise up our rent
We swallowed our pride and we smiled our best
Bricks and mortar, kingdom of stone
When you go, 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 does not feel
I'm damned if I'll die for a profiting deal
The woman next door, she just passed away
For the rent grew so high that she just couldn't pay
And there in the bed she closed up her eyes
The last time they 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 would you go, 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 44 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 'til I'm done, only then will I go
It was never meant that one man should treat the others so