Chords/Tabulature for
Ordinary People

Submitted by: Malc Brookes (malc@malbro.demon.co.uk)

Notes about this song:

• This is taken from the ABD tapes.
• In the intro section there is a quick D when going from Bm back to Em.

Intro: (play 6 times)
Em   C   D   Bm
 
     Em                   C
In a dusty town the clock struck high noon,
    D
Two men stood face to face.
Em                 C
One wore black and one wore white,
       D
But of fear there wasn't a trace.
    Em                      C
Two hundred years later two hot rods drag
D
Through the very same place,
                     C
And a half a million people
           G                    D
They moved in and picked up the pace.
                  C
A factory full of people,
       G                    D
Makin' parts to go to outer space.
                C
A train load of people,
          G                   D
They were leaving for another place.
            C
Out of town people,
  D
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 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.
Patch-of-ground people,
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,
With the rack and ammunition beside.
Well, he walked with a cane, kept a bolt on the door,
With five pit bulls inside.
A warning to the people,
Who might try to break in at night.
Protection for the people,
Selling safety in the darkest night.
Trying to help the people,
Get the drugs to the street alright.
Trying to help the people,
Yeah, yeah.
 
Intro (played 4 times)
 
It's hard to tell 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
A fist stretched up into 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.
Patch-of-ground people,
Yeah, yeah.
 
Down at the factory,
They keep 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,
They're everyday people,
They've been living in a nightmare.
Ordinary people,
And they don't know how they go there.
Hard working people,
And they think that you don't care.
Patch-of-ground, patch-of-ground people,
Yeah, yeah.
 
Out on the assembly line,
They keep putting the same things out.
The people today, they just ain't buying,
Nobody can figure it out.
Well, they try like hell to build the quality in,
And working hard without a doubt.
They're ordinary people,
But the dollar's what it's all about.
Nose-to-the-stone people,
But the customers are walking out.
Lee Iacocca people,
Well they look but they just don't buy.
Hard workin' people,
Yeah, yeah.
 
Intro (play 8 times)
 
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.
Well, the champ went down, then he got up again,
And 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 night.
The Donald Trump people,
Yeah, yeah.
 
Well, a new Rolls Royce and a company car,
They went rolling down the street.
Each one trying to make it to the gate
Before employees man the fleet.
With trucks full of products for the modern home,
Set to roll out into the street.
Downtown people,
Trying to make their way to work.
Everyday people,
Some are saints, and some are jerks.
Hard workin' people,
Stopping for a drink on the way to work.
Alcoholic people,
Yeah Yeah, they're taking it one day, one day at a time.
 
Intro (play 4 times)
 
Out on the railroad track,
They're cleaning up number nine.
They're scrubbing the boiler down,
She really is lookin' fine.
Things'll be different soon,
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.
All kinds of people,
I got faith in the regular kind.
Patch-of-ground people.
 
Intro (play 8 times, finish on Em)