Story Behind The Song

I have a habit of bumping into homeless people and talking to them. For some reason, weird people just find me and since I find them interesting, i usually spend some time talking to them. All of the characters in the song are based on real life people I've met. The first verse is about this homeless brother on Denver who went around telling everyone he was a leprechaun and making people join in doing the hokey pokey ad hoc. The second verse is about the Ocean Beach space man who has a good measure of urban legends based on him. Every weekend I would see him setting up his table selling his book about his time in space...

Song Description

"People on the Street" is a slow moving funky jam about some of the homeless people I've met over the years. The lyrics may sound a little strange and the stories a little unbelievable, but they are true to life as often times truth is stranger than fiction.

Lyrics

have you seen the people on the street
if you have you might call them freaks
sit right back down in your seat
here's a few people I would like you to meet

little black man, he's been blessed
he wears a bright green vest
of all the little leprechauns he is the best
he sings out loud from his chest:
put your right leg in put your right leg out
put your right leg in and shake it all about
do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around
that's what it's all about
then your left leg right arm left arm head
he's the daddy king leprechaun that's what he said
don't got no place don't got no bed
he just sings Belafonte instead

chorus:
have you seen the people on the street
if you have you might call them freaks
sit right back down in your seat
here's a few people I would like you to meet

he's the spaceman he wrote a book
about this little trip he took
he's from another planet
but on the beach his hand I shook
he's got gray hair it's extra long
he flies on spaceships playing ping pong
he smokes out of a very special bong
I thought that he was human, I was wrong
at night he points up to the sky
"that's my home" he says with a sigh
I see a tear begin to form in his eye
man this guy is so damn high

have you seen the people on the street

in a pink tutu and a neon beard
and a sign that said the end is near
he was pushing a shopping cart that was full of beer
at first this man struck me as might queer
"howdy boy, my name is Bob
and burying roadkill that's my job
beware the giant cosmic blob
cause I eat my corn right from the cob"
I stopped to talk cause he looked sad
and I found out he wasn't so bad
I pulled out a beer and popped the tab
it was the strangest conversation I've ever had

repeat chorus