Neil Young - Ordinary People (Bluenote Café) lyrics

In a dusty town the 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 through the very same place
And a half million people
They moved in to pick up the pace
A factory full of people
Building parts to go to outer space
A train load of people
They were leaving for another place
Out of town people yeah, yeah, yеah

There's a man in the window with a big cigar
Says еverything's for sale
He had a house and a boat and a railroad car
The owner's got to go to jail
He acquired these things from a life of crime
Now he's selling them to raise his bail
He was ripping off the people


Selling guns to the underground
Living off the people
Skimming the top when there's no one around
Trying to help the people
Lose their ass for a piece of ground
A patch of ground people yeah, yeah, yeah

He was dealing antiques in a hardware store
But he sure had a lot to hide
He kept a back room 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
They might try to break in at night
Protection from the people
He's selling safety in the darkest night
Trying to help the people
Get the drugs to the street all right
Ordinary people yeah, yeah, yeah

Well, it's hard to say where
A man goes wrong
It 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 fists up in the air vigilante people
Taking the law into their own hands
Conscientious people
Cracking down on the drug lord's bands
Government people
Confiscating all the dealer's lands
The patch of ground people yeah, yeah, yeah

Down at the factory they're
Putting new windows in
The vandals made a mess of things
Then the homeless just walked right in
Well, they worked here once and
They live here now
But they might work here again
The everyday people
They've been living in a nightmare
Nose-to-the-stone people
And they don't know how they got there
Hard working people
And they all think that you care
Patch of ground people yeah, yeah, yeah

Down on the assembly line
They keep putting the same things out
But the people today, they just ain't buying
Nobody can figure it out
Well, they try like hell to
Build the quality in
They're working hard without a doubt
The ordinary people
And the customers are walking out
Hard workin' people
But the dollar's what it's all about
Lee Iacocca people
Yeah, they look but they just don't buy
The patch of ground people hey, yeah

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 were watching the fight
Well, the champ went down
Then he got up again
Then he went out like a light
He was fighting for the people
But his timing wasn't right
The Las Vegas people
They came to see a Las Vegas fight
High rolling people
Taking limos through the neon light
Fighting for the people yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah

A new Rolls Royce and a company car
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 streets
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 yeah, yeah
Takin' it one day, one day at a time

Out on the railroad track
They're cleaning up number nine
They're scrubbing the boiler down
She really is looking fine
Things'll be different
They're gonna put her back on line
The ordinary people
They're gonna bring the good things back
Hard working people
They put the business back on track
Nose-to-the-stone people
I got faith in the regular guy
Patch of ground people
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah