The Fall Of The House Of Harding

I was burdened by the hopes of an ailing failing family
It fell to me to marry to preserve the family fame
Mother's stupid snobbery, my father's desperate gambling
Combined to lose the deeds to all we owned except our name
And so mother brings me heiresses, the weak-chinned and the widowed
The simpering and whimpering, they queue to be my wife
And I treat them all with diffidence, even feign an interest
But I regret I didn't save my elder brother's life
It's goodbye...

May the family hall fall into ruins all around us
Collapse onto my mother and her evil little schemes
She'd be better dead than living, if her ghost was not forgiving
She could haunt the stone forever and destroy all of our dreams
Cos they sold my little sister into some strange form of slavery
She's living somewhere far away with someone that she hates
But I know she must be smiling cos that whore escaped this hellhole,
And the one revenge I have occurs the moment it's too late
When I die....

You'd think I might be pining for some paupered little country girl
My folks won't let me marry cos she doesn't have a sous
Then maybe she'd inherit some unexpected legacy
That's just reserved for novels, need not worry me and you
Cos there's no-one in this world for me will ever make me happy
My attentions don't lie elsewhere, well, they don't even exist
And the truth is I could marry any pampered little socialite
But the family's on the edge, they're looking down at the abyss
So goodbye to all my creditors,
Au revoir, you heiresses,
Adios, my doctors
And adieu to all of you
Bad news for you, my family
Bad news for you all
Our house is all in ruins now
I will be our fall

And this is how it seems to me: must I prolong the agony?
We're weak-willed and we're spineless and we don't know why we're here
Our name'd be better on a tomb so leave me with my opium
I haven't even got the strength to muster any fear
So Goodbye....