Song Lyrics

Two out of work models and a fashion slave try to dance away the michelob night
The bartender poured herself 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, the high rollin' people
Takin' limos in the neon night, las vegas people
Who came to see a las vegas fight, fightin' for the people
Yeah, yeah

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 make 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, the patch o' ground people
Yeah, yeah, yeah

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 o' 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
In case the drunks 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, tryin' to help the people
Yeah, yeah yeah

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 and his band, government people
Confiscatin' all the dealer's land, patch o' ground people
Yeah, yeah

A new rolls royce and a company car they went flyin' 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 ordinary people
Tryin' to make their way to work, downtown people
Some are saints, and some are jerks [that's me], everyday people
Stoppin' for a drink on the way to work, alcoholic people
Yeah, yeah, they're takin' it one day at a time

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, ordinary people
And the dollar's what it's all about, lee iacocca people
But the customers are walkin' out, nose-to-the-stone people
Yeah, they look but they just don't buy, patch o' ground people
Hey, hey hey

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
A hundred and eighty years later two hot rods drag 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 leavin' for another place, out of town people
Yeah, yeah

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
They're just livin' in a dream, hard workin' people
Just don't know what it means to give up people
Just like they used to be, patch o' ground people

Out on the railroad track, they're cleanin' ol' number nine
They're scrubbin' the boiler down, she really is lookin' fine
Times'll be different soon, they're gonna bring her back on line
Ordinary people
They're gonna bring the good things back, hard workin' people
Put the business back on track, everyday people
I got faith in the regular kind, patch o' ground people
Yeah, yeah

Neil Young

The duration of Ordinary People is 12:50 minutes and seconds.