House on the Hill (Kevin Coyne)
House on the Hill (Kevin Coyne) 5:41
Vocals, Virtual Dubstepcube (ButtonBass), Harmonica, Crazy Laughter
Video – Kevin Coyne 1973
Lyrics
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 cozy.
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
they never hear the bluebird call
they 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, I wish I could die
wish I could die.
Now this pagan life is getting me down,
my brow is filled with a furrow and a frown
my eyelids lower as low as can be
but I’m not sleeping
I wander around that Jackson Square
with the bottles strewn everywhere
Under tables and under chairs
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
Well I don’t have a cent
I don’t know how I’ll pay the rent
Maybe I’ll go bent
and make some money
Funny, funny, funny, funny, oh so funny that’s it’s making me cry
Funny, funny, funny, funny, oh so funny Lord, I wish I could die
I wish I could die.
So if you know a way I can go
from out of this show, you know,
you could give me a golden globe
you’re not trying
you’d never lift a regular hand,
and then 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
and where the red bus stands by the great big gate
the red bus it’s always late,
you know why it’s always late
you know why it’s always late
because it’s always empty
it’s oh so empty
Funny, funny, funny, funny, oh so funny that’s it’s making me cry
Funny, funny, funny, funny, oh so funny Lord, I wish I could die
I wish I could die.
(laughter) oh so funny oh so funny…
Written by Kevin Coyne
Notes
- Kevin Coyne (1944-2004) was a gifted musician, lyricist, performer & artist. If you are not familiar with his work, please check him out. You won’t regret it! Start with “Case History” or “Marjory Razorblade”, and do not stop there. He was great right to the end.
- I had recently started recording the previous year when I decided to cover one of my
favourite songs of all-time. It was not appropriate for The Hated Uncles to do covers, but it’s ok for Harvey Dog. - When I lived on Haida Gwaii, the streets (or beach) were empty except for Poobah and myself, so I would pull out my Lee Oskar Major Diatonic in C harmonica and wail. Usually playing along with the music I was listening to through my headphones. Totally untrained and winging it, I felt something take hold of me when doing this song. The power of the song sucked me in and took me to a place where I could tap into some very powerful emotions. I hope people get turned on to the genius of Kevin Coyne!
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