“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.“
Remember in the weeks coming up to Christmas, when shopping, use locally owned businesses rather than foreign or nationally owned outfits; more money remains in your local community, because locally-owned businesses continue to purchase from other local businesses, service providers and farmers.
Often forgotten, is the fact that the unique character of the Thurles local community, is defined mostly by the businesses that reside here and same plays a factor in our overall satisfaction, with where we live as a community and the value placed on our homes or other properties.
Nationally, small local businesses are the largest employers of a labour force. On the jobs front, our Tipperary politicians of all parties, and our local councillors have lamentably and continuously, down through the years; let us down, in their direct actions taken without the consent of their electorate. They forget that the more jobs that exist here in our local community, the less people that are going to have to commute, which means more time and less traffic and pollution, something so far forgotten in discussions at COP26.
Let us all stop and think about the ‘Little Man’ and ‘Think Local’ when Christmas shopping here in Thurles; if at all possible.
Read the Lyric’s – Listen to the song and Support Thurles
Little Man
written by Singer / Songwriter Alan Jackson
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 Jewellery
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.
And one cold rainy night he fixed your flat.
The new store 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 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.
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.
It wasn’t long ago when I was a child
An old black man came with his mule and his plough.
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.
Lovely Little Man