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