There's a farmer into night school Playing on family sand There's a lowrider down in Espanyol And he's tearing up the government's land There's a string quartet recital They're playing to the wealthy ears There's a boy and his dog gone down by the river And they're shooting down empty beers So that's the way it goes Living in the land the first man once did roam So that's the way it goes Living in the land the first man once called home Well, there's a bigwig corporation They're mining down the mountainside There's a man making money by floating down a river And he's giving all the folks a ride There's this 15 dollar artist She's painting people in the square There's a guy building condos, everybody's angry And he says, Man, I really don't care So that's the way it goes
Living in the land the first man once did roam So that's the way it goes Living in the land the first man once called home Now this first man's basic blessing Is just what this government gives But he'll tell you that his only real reservation Is really just where he lives Now this first man's slowly vanishing And too this land, they bred But let's make no mistake about it First man here was red So that's the way it goes Living in the land the first man once did roam So that's the way it goes Living in the land the first man once called home Yeah, that's the way it goes Living in the land the first man once called home Oh, that's the way it goes and goes and goes and goes Living in the land this first man, he thought he owned