Lyrics for singles by Jim Croce

You Don't Mess Around With Jim

Uptown's got its hustlers
The Bowry's got its bums
Forty-second street's got Big Jim Walker
He's a pool-shootin' son of a gun
Well he's big and dumb as a man can come
But he's stronger than a country hoss
And when the bad folks all get together at night
You know they all call Big Jim "boss"
(Just because ...)
(They say ...)

You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Jim
(Ba-doo-da-doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo doot)

Well out of South Alabama come a country boy
He said "I'm lookin' for a man named Jim
I am a pool-shootin' boy, my name is Willie McCoy
But back home they call me Slim"
He said "I'm lookin' for the king of Forty-Second street
He's drivin' a drop-top Cadillac
And last week he took all my money, and it may sound funny
But I come to get my money back"
(And everybody say, Jack -- don't you know that...)

[chorus]

Well a hush fell over the pool room
When Jimmy come boppin' in off the street
And when the cuttin' was done, the only part that wasn't bloody
Was the soles of the big man's feet
He was cut in 'bout a hundred places
And he was shot in a couple more
And you better believe they sung a different kind of story
When Big Jim hit the floor

(And now they say)
You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask of the old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Slim

Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)

Operator, well could you help me place this call?
See, the number on the matchbook is old and faded
She's living in L. A. with my best old ex-friend Ray
A guy she said she knew well and sometimes hated

Isn't that the way they say it goes?
Well, let's forget all that
And give me the number if you can find it
So I can call just to tell 'em I'm fine and to show
I've overcome the blow
I've learned to take it well
I only wish my words could just convince myself
That it just wasn't real
But that's not the way it feels
No, no, no, no --- that's not the way it feels

Operator, well could you help me place this call?
Well, I can't read the number that you just gave me
There's something in my eyes
You know it happens every time
I think about a love that I thought would save me

[chorus]

Operator, well let's forget about this call
There's no one there I really wanted to talk to
Thank you for your time
Ah, you've been so much more than kind
You can keep the dime

[chorus]

Bad, Bad Leroy Brown

Well the South side of Chicago
Is the baddest part of town
And if you go down there
You better just beware
Of a man named Leroy Brown

Now Leroy more than trouble
You see he stand 'bout six foot four
All the downtown ladies call him "Treetop Lover"
All the men just call him "Sir"

And it's bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog

Now Leroy he a gambler
And he like his fancy clothes
And he like to wave his diamond rings
In front of everybody's nose
He got a custom Continental
He got an Eldorado too
He got a 32 gun in his pocket for fun
He got a razor in his shoe

[chorus]

Now Friday 'bout a week ago
Leroy shootin' dice
And at the edge of the bar
Sat a girl named Doris
And oo that girl looked nice
Well he cast his eyes upon her
And the trouble soon began
'Cause Leroy Brown learned a lesson 'bout messin'
With the wife of a jealous man

[chorus]

Well the two men took to fighting
And when they pulled them off the floor
Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle
With a couple of pieces gone

[chorus]

One Less Set of Footsteps

We been runnin' away from
Somethin' we both know
We've long run out of things to say
And I think I better go

So don't be getting' excited
When you hear that slammin' door
'Cause there'll be one less set of footsteps
On your floor in the mornin'

And we've been hidin' from somethin'
That should have never gone this far
But after all it's what we've done
That makes us what we are

And you been talkin' in silence
If it's silence you adore
Oh there'll be one less set of footsteps
On your floor in the mornin'

Well there'll be one less set of footsteps on your floor
One less man to walk in
One less pair of jeans upon your door
One less voice a'talkin'

But tomorrow's a dream away
Today has turned to dust
Your silver tongue has turned to clay
And your golden rule to rust
If that's the way that you want it
That's the way I want it more
There'll be one less set of footsteps
On your floor in the mornin'

[chorus]

There'll be one less set of footsteps
On your floor in the mornin

Time in a Bottle

If I could save Time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
'Til Eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then
Again, I would spend them with you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go
Through time with

If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you

I Got a Name

Like the pine trees lining the winding road
I got a name
I got a name
Like the singing bird and the croaking toad
I got a name
I got a name

And I carry it with me like my daddy did
But I'm living the dream that he kept hid

Movin' me down the highway
Rollin' me down the highway
Movin' ahead so life won't pass me by

Like the north wind whistlin down the sky
I got a song
I got a song
Like the whippoorwill and the baby's cry
I got a song
I got a song

And I carry it with me and I sing it loud
If it gets me nowhere, I'll go there proud

[chorus]

And I'm gonna go there free...

Like the fool I am and I'll always be
I got a dream
I got a dream
They can change their minds but they can't change me
I got a dream
I got a dream

Oh, I know I could share it if you'd want me to
If you're goin' my way, I'll go with you

[chorus]

I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song

Well, I know it's kind of late
I hope I didn't wake you
But what I got to say can't wait
I know you'd understand
Every time I tried to tell you
The words just came out wrong
So I'll have to say I love you in a song

Yeah, I know it's kind of strange
But everytime I'm near you
I just run out of things to say
I know you'd understand
Every time I tried to tell you
The words just came out wrong
So I'll have to say I love you in a song

Everytime the time was right
All the words just came out wrong
So I'll have to say I love you in a song

Yeah, I know it's kind of late
I hope I didn't wake you
But there's something that I just got to say
I know you'd understand
Everytime I tried to tell you
The words just came out wrong
So I'll have to say I love you ina a song

Workin' at The Car Wash Blues

Well, I had just got out from the county prison
Doin' ninety days for non-support
Tried to find me an executive position
But no matter how smooth I talked
They wouldn't listen to the fact that I was a genius
The man say, "We got all that we can use."
Now I got them steadily depressin', low down mind messin'
Working at the car wash blues

Well, I should be sittin' in an air conditioned office in a swivel chair
Talkin' some trash to the secretaries
Sayin', "Here now mama, come on over here."
Instead, I'm stuck here rubbin' these fenders with a rag
And walkin' home in soggy old shoes
With them steadily depressin', low down mind messin'
Workin' at the car wash blues

You know a man of my ability
He should be smokin' on a big cigar
But till I get myself straight I guess I'll just have to wait
In my rubber suit a-rubbin' these cars

Well, all I can do is a-shake my head
You might not believe that it's true
For workin' at this end of Niagara Falls
Is an undiscovered Howard Hughes
So baby, don't expect to see me
With no double martini in any high-brow society news
'Cause I got them steadily depressin', low down mind messin'
Workin' at the car wash blues

(Lead break)

So, baby, don't expect to see me
With no double martini in any high-brow society news
'Cause I got them steadily depressin', low down mind messin'
Workin' at the car wash blues

Photographs And Memories

Photographs and memories
Christmas cards you sent to me
All that I have are these
To remember you

Memories that come at night
Take me to another time
Back to a happier day
When I called you mine

But we sure had a good time
When we started way back when
Morning walks and bedroom talks
Oh, how I loved you then

Summer skies and lullabies
Nights we couldn't say good-bye
And of all of the things that we knew
Not a dream survived

Photographs and memories
All the love you gave to me
Somehow it just can't be true
That's all I've left of you

But we sure had a good time
When we started way back when
Morning walks and bedroom talks
Oh, how I loved you then