Ordinary People

[Verse 1] 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 The champ went down and he got up again Then, he went out like a light Fighting for the people But his timing wasn't right The high rolling people Taking limos in the neon light The Las Vegas people They came to see a Las Vegas fight Fighting for the people Yeah, yeah [Instrumental Break] [Verse 2] There's a man in the window with a big cigar Says everything's for sale He had a house and a boat and a 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 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 [Guitar Solo] [Verse 3] 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 Yeah, he walked with a cane Kept a bolt on the door with five pitbulls inside Just a warning to the people In case they might try to break in at night Protection for the people He's selling safety in the darkest night Trying to help the people Get the drugs to the street all right Trying to help the people Yeah, yeah, yeah [Saxophone Solo] [Verse 4] 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 up in the air Vigilante people Taking the law into their own hands The conscientious people Cracking down on the drug lord and his bands Government people Confiscating all the dealer's lands The patch of ground people Yeah, yeah, yeah [Guitar Solo] [Verse 5] A new Rolls Royce, a company car They were racing down the street Each one was trying 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 Trying to make their way to work The downtown people Some are saints and some are jerks (That's me) Everyday people Stopping for a drink on their way to work Alcoholic people Yeah, yeah Taking it one day at a time [Guitar Solo] [Verse 6] Down on the assembly line They keep putting the same things out The people today, they just ain't buying Nobody can figure it out They try like hell to build the quality in They're working hard without a doubt Ordinary people But the dollar's what it's all about Lee Iacocca people But the customers are walking out The nose to the stone people Yeah, they look but they just don't buy The patch of ground people Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey [Saxophone Solo] [Verse 7] 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 A hundred and eighty years later Two hot rods drag through the very same place A half million people They moved in to pick up the pace A factory full of people Making parts to go to outer space A train load of people They were leaving for another place Out of town people Yeah, yeah [Trumpet Solo] [Verse 8] Down at the factory, they're putting 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 The ordinary people They're just living in a dream Hard-working people Just don't know what it means To give up people They're just like they used to be Patch of ground people Hey, hey [Guitar Solo] [Verse 9] Out on the railroad track, they're cleaning old number nine They're scrubbing the boiler down, she really is looking fine (A beauty, that number nine!) Times'll be different soon. They're going to bring her back on line Ordinary people They're going to bring the good things back Hard-working people They put the business back on track The everyday people I got faith in the regular kind Patch of ground people Yeah, yeah [Instrumental Outro]