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 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 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
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 drug-lord'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 go 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 yeah, they're takin' it one day, one day at a time

Out on the railroad track, they're cleanin' up number nine
They're scrubbin' the boiler down, well, she really is lookin' fine
Awe, 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

Copyright: WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC
Writer(s): Neil Young