The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
I remember walkin' 'round the court square sidewalks
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
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
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 world with 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 now the court square's just a set of streets
That 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 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
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
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
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 world with 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 now the court square's just a set of streets
That 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 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
Lyrics submitted by danizzygurl
Little Man Lyrics as written by Alan Eugene Jackson
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Man what a great song on a subject that isn't touched upon enough. It hits upon the people and their places and jobs within small towns.
In the town of 1200 where I was raised it was so similar to the points in this song. The majority of my peers wanted nothing more than to get out of town at 18, go to school, and get rich. The values that made the early to mid 20th Century so great seemed to be lost upon those from the '80s on.
"You can buy the world with just one trip And save a penny 'cause it's jumbo size And they don't even realize They're killin' the little man"
What a sad song that rings so true all over the country. People need think more about how everything they do in their own lives affects the community as a whole.
I agree with you CJ! Alan Jackson wrote a masterpiece with Little Man! It reminds me of the Baltimore suburb/bedroom community that by day masquerades as a small town-Westminster. Here in Carroll County in the fields of Maryland we are basic country folk who mind our own business and it saddens me that when you drive across Westminster, I feel extremely shocked that everything is abandoned, stores close, hands change or in Alan's writing "Boarded Up Like They Never Existed/There Goes Another Little Man! It's Sad but It's True! The Backbone of America Has Been Broken and Friends, It Ain't Never Coming Back!
I heard this on the radio recently and had tears in my eyes. I thought of how things "used to be" when the world wasn't full of fast food, bright lights, in-your-face advertising, and the twenty-four news cycle. People used to be so much simpler before the mess we're in now. I thought of my grandparents, how broke they were when they died because all the things the corporations do to us through alcohol and drugs.