1. Rita was twenty-one years old last Friday
Nobody sent her a card
She was out on the streets with a bottle of booze
She’s got nothing to gain now and nothing to lose
There are no cake and candles for Rita
She’s a lady of no fixed abode
2. Born at the end of a family of seven
Her parents always poor
A child of the streets by the time she could walk
Screaming four letter words by the time she could talk
There are no cake and candles for Rita
She’s a lady of no fixed abode
3. At seven years old for her care and protection
Put into a children’s home
A mental defective, a difficult case
On the borderline of the human race
There are no cake and candles for Rita
She’s a lady of no fixed abode
4. Psychiatrists gave her a monthly inspection
To analyse her brain
Over cocktails at seven and dinner at eight
Precisely defining her clinical state
There are no cake and candles for Rita
She’s a lady of no fixed abode
5. The social worker tried hard to reclaim her
She found her a hostel home
And a nine-to-five job on the factory floor
Well, she lasted three days and was shown the door
There are no cake and candles for Rita
She’s a lady of no fixed abode
6. The priest came to offer her spiritual guidance
To purify her soul
“You suffered below but will prosper above
And he has no favourites for his infinite love“
There are no cake and candles for Rita
She’s a lady of no fixed abode
7. Rita was twenty-one years old last Friday
Nobody sent her a card
She was out on the streets with a bottle of booze
She’s got nothing to gain now and nothing to lose
There are no cake and candles for Rita
She’s a lady of no fixed abode
There are no cake and candles for Rita
She’s just a lady of no fixed abode
© Dave Pierce, 1973 and 2019.