BuBu

Lyrics

“The Rent Went Up (So Did I)”
BuBu + Dave

Landlord sent a letter in Comic Sans
Said he’s hiking up the rent and ‘hopes I understand’
So I sold my toaster and my dignity
And moved in with three vegans and a cat named “Jeremy”


Mum says love’ll save me, Dad says get a trade
But romance costs more than my student loan paid
So I kissed a poet and a plumber last week
One clogged the sink, the other just ghosted me


But I’ve got biscuits and I’ve got tea
And a borrowed sense of dignity


The rent went up — so did I
High on rage and Aldi wine
Shouted my name off the council line
I won’t be pretty, won’t be polite
You priced me out but I still got pride
The rent went up — so did I


Tried to cry at Centrelink but they were out of forms
So I wrote a folk song and I weathered the storm
Got a tattoo that says “PAY ME FIRST”
And a savings account that might actually be cursed


I keep my heartbreak in the drawer
Next to two quid and a metaphor


The rent went up — so did I
Scrubbing pans and dreaming sly
Of stealing back my stolen time
You bought the block but not my fire
You raised the roof — I raised it higher
The rent went up — so did I

He said, “Babe, don’t get political.”
I said, “Darling, my overdraft is political.”
He said, “You’re too much.”
I said, “That’s the least of my rent-adjusted problems.”

The rent went up — so did I
Laughing through another lie
Put lipstick on my overdraft
And kissed this postcode’s sweet goodbye
You can evict me from this flat
But not the fight that’s in my spine
The rent went up — so did I


And I took the kettle, too.