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 old Lee King's apothecary
They ware 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 them 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 stores 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
He couldn't sell Slurpees, 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 them 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

And 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 them 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