House Of Fun

Album: House Of Fun (1982)
Charted: 1
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is about a 16-year-old who thinks he ready to have sex - the "House of Fun" is a euphemism for a brothel house. The "box of balloons with the feather-light touch" are condoms.
  • Regarding the line, "This is a chemists, not a joke shop," in UK they call pharmacists chemists. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Jef - San Diego, CA, for above 2
  • The Monty Python styled music video was filmed variously at a Camden joke shop, a Kilburn chemist and a roller coaster in Great Yarmouth. According to an interview with Suggs in Q Magazine, the band went round the roller coaster 54 times before the director was satisfied he'd got what he wanted.
  • Frontman Suggs recalled to The Daily Mirror September 18, 2009: "Originally it was called The Chemist Facade. Then I came up with the title and wrote the chorus, but didn't get credited! To this day I can barely mention the title onstage without wanting to throw up. It's about the embarrassment of going to a chemist's shop to buy a condom for the first time."
  • In an ironic twist of fate, this song about a 16-year-old boy buying condoms was the UK #1 when Pope John Paul II made his first official visit to England.

Comments: 8

  • Moosehead from ScPosted 6-24-23: i first heard this song on the TV show the Young Ones out fo the UK. it played at 1130 on sunday nights on MTV and they usually had a musical guest sequence. RIP silent P
  • Simon from ScotlandThe explanation that the song has a brothel reference is wrong. The "house of fun" refers to a shop that party items and also in general to the fact the protagonist is 16 and hence legally allowed to have sex (in the UK). You can can the lyrics and find this to be so:

    I'm sorry son
    But we don't stock
    Party gimmicks
    In this shop
    Try the House of Fun
    It's quicker if you run
    This is a chemist
    Not a jokers' shop!
  • Aleksandar from Zrenjanin, SerbiaI remember when Cartoon Network used this song for the Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends promo. I was much surprised.
  • Ian from Isle Of Wight I believe the chemist in the video is the one at the Camden end of Adelaide Road , next to Chalk Farm tube Station rather than Kilburn .
  • Blake from London, United KingdomWow. Never realised that the song was about stuff like that. Came sorta as a shock.
  • Jessica from Oxford, United Kingdommy friend didnt believe this song was about buying condoms! Now i have proof thanks =]
  • Louise from Newcastle, United KingdomThis made me giggle when I was old enough to understand what the song was about. A light hearted, coming of age song.
  • Mike from Dublin, IrelandAround the time this song was released it was made illegal in the UK for under 16s to have sex (even with each other) hence the "16 today and up for fun" and going into a chemist to buy condoms. Not so sure about the brothel reference above.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles

Timothy B. Schmit of the EaglesSongwriter Interviews

Did this Eagle come up with the term "Parrothead"? And what is it like playing "Hotel California" for the gazillionth time?

80s Video Director Jay Dubin

80s Video Director Jay DubinSong Writing

Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.

Gilby Clarke

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."

Dino Cazares of Fear Factory

Dino Cazares of Fear FactorySongwriter Interviews

The guitarist/songwriter explains how he came up with his signature sound, and deconstructs some classic Fear Factory songs.

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."