I'm for the little guy --
Blue black tan gray green red white.
I'm for the guy that lost the fight
That day on the school yard
When the bully stole the nerd's hat,
And the nerd let him have it--
The hat that is. And it wasn't right.
Demanded fight.
So the little guy Nobody stepped forward
And said, "Hey, you can't do things like that."
And the bully laughed, "Oh yeah. Watch this!"
And pushed Nobody's face/into the chain link fence;
Massaged it there/while the nerd looked on
Mewling,/"It's only a hat. It's only a hat."
Until the little guy Nobody
Had had enough of being a hero,
Feeling the knots of the chain link fence
Cut into his cheek,
And called it quits.

I'm for that guy
Walkin' away feelin' like s--t.
Feelin' as if he'd lost somethin'
Losin' to a guy twice his size
Because, in the movies
A real hero chops those bullies down,
Sets right the situation.

But it never worked out that way for this kid
Righteous though he was.
And in his lifetime he found out
That the bullies were always winning.
And the nerds were always helpless.
And caught between them,
Forever pathetically engaged,
Were guys like him
Trying to set things right,
Trying to undo the damage,
Trying to live in accordance with ancient ideals
That even in ancient times
Must have been just that,
Ideals.

But what the hell. I'm for him,
Whoever he is
Because, even today,
When it comes to a stolen hat,
A stolen chance,
A stolen you name it,
He stands up right in the face of it,
Come what may, and says,
"Hey. Hey. You can't do things like that!"

Marc Smith