I was walking down the street the other day
And a sight came before my eyes
It was a little hippie boy, I must have been twice his size
His appearance typified his strange breed
Gaudy clothes, long stringy hair hanging down
I'd seen perhaps a thousand in my early trips to town
As he walked beside me on down the block
I noticed no unpleasing smell
He might have been on the weed or even LSD
But if he was I couldn't tell
So we walked together that way through this neighborhood
Finally he turned around to me
And he, he said, "Friend, you know we're a million miles apart
But you know something we can enjoy the sunshine and the weather
So why don't we put our differences aside
And just talk to each other?"
"You see this box beneath my arm
To you it's plain, it has no charm
But to someone dearest to my heart
This box has played a tragic part"
"This little one can't tell you himself about his life and how he died
But if anyone else could speak for him, I guess I'm qualified
This boy was in Chicago, he didn't know why he was there
He was with his family and friends and he didn't really care"
"You might have been one of those
Who saw the struggle there on your television screen
The tragic thing is so much else happened
That no one else could have seen"
"A stranger handed this boy a dollar to do a simple chore
To carry a package to a nearby hotel
And when he returned he'd get two more
But when he came back he sort of lost his way
Walking through the crowd
One of them things you ask yourself, how the Lord allowed"
"But when he was found he was like he is now
Dreaming sweet and still
And in his little hand was a crumpled dollar bill
Now, you can take that dollar
Get four cents on it, compound it quarterly at any downtown bank
So they can back some hot new tank or atom bomb"
"What I'm gonna tell you now, you can stay or you can leave
You kind of listened to my story so far, but just one more thing
It's the same for any hippie, bum or hillbilly out on the street
Just remember this little boy and never carry more than you can eat
Now, could you help us sing this song, please?"
There will be peace in the valley, for him now we pray
I will think of the little hippie boy that way, that way