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

in 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.

Livin' off the people

Skimmin' the top when there was no one around

Tryin' to help the people,

Lose their ass for a piece of ground.

Patch-of-ground 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,

everyday people.

And they're livin' in a nightmare.

The nose to the stone people

And they don't know

how they got there.

Hard workin' people.

And they don't think that you care.

Patch-of-ground 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.

But the customers are walkin' out.

Hard workin' people.

And the dollar's

what it's all about.

Lee Iacocca people.

Yeah, they look but they just don't buy.

Patch-of-ground 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.

A new Rolls Royce, a company car

They were flying down the street

Each one was tryin' to make it to the gate

Before employees manned the fleet

The trucks full of products for the modern home

Were set to roll out into the street of downtown people

Tryin' to make their way to work

Everyday people

Some are saints and some are jerks

hard working people

Stoppin' for a drink on their way to work

Alcoholic people,

takin' it one day at a time

down on the railroad track,

they're cleanin' up number 9.

They're scrubbin' the boiler down,

well, she really is lookin' fine.

they seem so different

they're gonna bring her back on line.

Ordinary people.

They're gonna bring the good things back.

Hard working people

Put the business back on track.

Nose-to-the stone people.

I got faith in the regular kind.

Patch-of-ground people.