Lyric Ordinary People
In a dusty town
a clock struck high noon,
Two men stood face to face.
One wore black and one wore white,
But of fear there wasn t a trace.
Two hundred years later
two hot rods drag race
through the very same place,
And a half a million people,
moved in to pick up the pace.
A factory full of people,
Makin parts to go to outer space.
A train load of people,
They were aimin for another place.
Out of town people.
There s a man in the window
with a big cigar,
Says everything s for sale.
The house and the boat
and the railroad car.
The owner s gotta go to jail.
He acquired these things
from a life of crime,
Now he s selling them
to raise his bail.
He was rippin off the people.
Sellin guns to the underground.
Tryin to help the people,
Lose their ass
for a piece of ground.
Rippin off the people.
Skimmin the top when
there was no one around.
Tryin to help the people.
He was dealing antiques
in a hardware store,
But he sure had a lot to hide.
He had a backroom full
of the guns of war,
And a ton of ammunition besides.
Well, he walked with a cane,
Kept a bolt on the door
with five pit bulls inside.
Just a warning to the people,
Who might try to break in at night.
Protection from the people,
Selling safety
in the darkest night.
Tryin to help the people.
Get the drugs
to the street all right.
Ordinary people.
Well, it s hard to say
where a man goes wrong,
Might be here
and it might be there.
What starts out weak
might get too strong,
If you can t tell foul from fair.
But it s hard to judge
from an angry throng,
Of hands stretched into the air.
The vigilante people.
Takin law into their own hands.
Conscientious people.
Crackin down on
the druglord s land.
Government people.
Confiscatin all
the dealer s land.
Patch-of-ground people.
Down at the factory,
they re puttin new windows in.
The vandals made a mess of things,
And the homeless
just walked right in.
Well, they worked here once,
and they live here now,
But they might work here again,
They re ordinary people.
And they re livin in a nightmare.
Hard workin people.
And they don t know
how they got there.
Ordinary people.
And they think that you don t care.
Hard workin people.
Down on the assembly line,
they keep puttin
the same thing out.
But the people today,
they just ain t buyin .
Nobody can figure it out.
Well, they try like hell
to build a quality end,
They re workin hard
without a doubt,
They re ordinary people.
And the dollar s
what it s all about.
Hard workin people.
But the customers are walkin out.
Lee Iacocca people.
Yeah, they look
but they just don t buy.
Hard workin people.
Two out of work models
and a fashion slave,
Try to dance away
the Michelob night.
The bartender poured
himself another drink,
While two drunks sat
watchin the fight.
The champ went down,
then he got up again,
And then he went out like a light.
He was fightin for the people,
But his timing wasn t right.
For Las Vegas people,
Who came to see a Las Vegas fight.
High rollin people,
Takin limos
though the neon night.
Fightin for the people.
And then a new Rolls Royce
and a company car,
They went flyin down the street.
Each one tryin
to make it to the gate,
Before employees manned the fleet.
The trucks full of products
for the modern home,
Set to roll out into the street,
Of downtown people,
Tryin to make their way to work.
Nose-to-the-stone people,
Some are saints, and some are jerks.
Hard workin people,
Stoppin for a drink
on the way to work.
Alcoholic people,
Yeah, they re takin it
one day, one day at a time.
Out on the railroad track,
they re cleanin up number 9.
They re scrubbin the boiler down,
well, she really is lookin fine.
Ah, she s lookin so good,
they re gonna
bring her back on line.
Ordinary people.
They re gonna bring
the good things back.
Nose-to-the stone people.
Put the business back on track.
Ordinary people,
I got faith in the regular kind.
Hard workin people.
Patch-of-ground people.
a clock struck high noon,
Two men stood face to face.
One wore black and one wore white,
But of fear there wasn t a trace.
Two hundred years later
two hot rods drag race
through the very same place,
And a half a million people,
moved in to pick up the pace.
A factory full of people,
Makin parts to go to outer space.
A train load of people,
They were aimin for another place.
Out of town people.
There s a man in the window
with a big cigar,
Says everything s for sale.
The house and the boat
and the railroad car.
The owner s gotta go to jail.
He acquired these things
from a life of crime,
Now he s selling them
to raise his bail.
He was rippin off the people.
Sellin guns to the underground.
Tryin to help the people,
Lose their ass
for a piece of ground.
Rippin off the people.
Skimmin the top when
there was no one around.
Tryin to help the people.
He was dealing antiques
in a hardware store,
But he sure had a lot to hide.
He had a backroom full
of the guns of war,
And a ton of ammunition besides.
Well, he walked with a cane,
Kept a bolt on the door
with five pit bulls inside.
Just a warning to the people,
Who might try to break in at night.
Protection from the people,
Selling safety
in the darkest night.
Tryin to help the people.
Get the drugs
to the street all right.
Ordinary people.
Well, it s hard to say
where a man goes wrong,
Might be here
and it might be there.
What starts out weak
might get too strong,
If you can t tell foul from fair.
But it s hard to judge
from an angry throng,
Of hands stretched into the air.
The vigilante people.
Takin law into their own hands.
Conscientious people.
Crackin down on
the druglord s land.
Government people.
Confiscatin all
the dealer s land.
Patch-of-ground people.
Down at the factory,
they re puttin new windows in.
The vandals made a mess of things,
And the homeless
just walked right in.
Well, they worked here once,
and they live here now,
But they might work here again,
They re ordinary people.
And they re livin in a nightmare.
Hard workin people.
And they don t know
how they got there.
Ordinary people.
And they think that you don t care.
Hard workin people.
Down on the assembly line,
they keep puttin
the same thing out.
But the people today,
they just ain t buyin .
Nobody can figure it out.
Well, they try like hell
to build a quality end,
They re workin hard
without a doubt,
They re ordinary people.
And the dollar s
what it s all about.
Hard workin people.
But the customers are walkin out.
Lee Iacocca people.
Yeah, they look
but they just don t buy.
Hard workin people.
Two out of work models
and a fashion slave,
Try to dance away
the Michelob night.
The bartender poured
himself another drink,
While two drunks sat
watchin the fight.
The champ went down,
then he got up again,
And then he went out like a light.
He was fightin for the people,
But his timing wasn t right.
For Las Vegas people,
Who came to see a Las Vegas fight.
High rollin people,
Takin limos
though the neon night.
Fightin for the people.
And then a new Rolls Royce
and a company car,
They went flyin down the street.
Each one tryin
to make it to the gate,
Before employees manned the fleet.
The trucks full of products
for the modern home,
Set to roll out into the street,
Of downtown people,
Tryin to make their way to work.
Nose-to-the-stone people,
Some are saints, and some are jerks.
Hard workin people,
Stoppin for a drink
on the way to work.
Alcoholic people,
Yeah, they re takin it
one day, one day at a time.
Out on the railroad track,
they re cleanin up number 9.
They re scrubbin the boiler down,
well, she really is lookin fine.
Ah, she s lookin so good,
they re gonna
bring her back on line.
Ordinary people.
They re gonna bring
the good things back.
Nose-to-the stone people.
Put the business back on track.
Ordinary people,
I got faith in the regular kind.
Hard workin people.
Patch-of-ground people.
