Little Man

I remember walkin' 'round the court square sidewalk Lookin' in windows at things I couldn't want There's Johnson's Hardware and Morgan's Jewelry And the ol' Lee King's Apothecary They were the little man The little man I go back now and the stores are empty Except for an old coke sign dated 1950 Boarded up like they never existed Or renovated and called historic districts There goes the little man There goes the little man Now the court square's just a set of streets That the people go round but they seldom think 'Bout the little man that built this town Before the big money shut 'em down And killed the little man Oh the little man He pumped your gas and he cleaned your glass And one cold rainy night he fixed your flat The new store came where you do it yourself You buy a lotto ticket and food off the shelf Forget the little man Forget about that little man He hung on there for a few more years But he couldn't sell slurpees And he wouldn't sell beer Now the bank rents the station To a man down the road And they sell velvet Elvis and second-hand clothes There goes little man There goes another little man Now the court square's just a set of streets That the people go 'round but they seldom think 'Bout the little man that built this town Before the big money shut 'em down And killed the little man Oh the little man Now the stores are lined up in a concrete strip You can buy the whole world in just one trip And save a penny 'cause it's jumbo size They don't even realize They're killin' the little man Oh the little man Now the court square's just a set of streets That the people go round but they seldom think 'Bout the little man that built this town Before the big money shut 'em down And killed the little man Oh the little man It wasn't long ago when I was a child An old black man came with his mule and his plow He broke the ground where we grew our garden Back before we'd all forgotten About the little man The little man Long live the little man God bless the little man