Jim Croce Album

Uptown got its hustlers
The Bowery got its bums
42nd Street got Big Jim Walker
He's a pool-shootin' son of a gun
Yeah, he big and dumb as a man can come
But he 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
And they say

You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Jim

Well outta south Alabama come a country boy
He say I'm lookin' for a man named Jim
I am a pool-shootin' boy
By name 'a Willie McCoy
But down home they call me Slim
Yeah I'm lookin' for the king of 42nd Street
He drivin' a drop top Cadillac
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

You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Jim

Well a hush fell over the pool room
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, ooh
And he was cut in about a hundred places
And he were shot in a couple more
And you better believe
There come another kind of story
When big Jim hit the floor now they say

You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Slim

Yeah, big Jim got his hat
Find out where it's at
And it's not hustlin' people strange to you
Even if you do got a two-piece custom-made pool cue

Yeah 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 Slim

Well, I'm sorry for the things that I told you
But words only go so far
And if I had my way
I would reach into heaven
And I'd pull down a star for a present
And I'd make you a chain out of diamonds
And pearls from a summer sea
But all I can give you is a kiss in the morning
And a sweet apology

Well, I know that it hasn't been easy
And I haven't always been around
To say the right words
Or to hold you in the mornin'
Or to help you when you're down
I know I never showed you much of a good time
But baby things are gonna change
I'm gonna make up for all of the hurt I brought
I'm gonna love away all your pain

And tomorrow's gonna be a brighter day
There's gonna be some changes
Tomorrow's gonna be a brighter day
This time you can believe me
No more cryin' in your lonely room
And no more empty nights
'Cause tomorrow mornin' everything will turn out right

Well, there's something that I've got to tell you
Yes I've got something on my mind
But words come hard
When your lying in my arms
And when I'm looking deep into your eyes
But there's truth and consolation
And what I'm trying to say
Is that nobody ever had a rainbow baby
Until he had the rain

And tomorrow's gonna be a brighter day
There's gonna be some changes
Tomorrow's gonna be a brighter day
This time you can believe me
No more cryin' in your lonely room
And no more empty nights
'Cause tomorrow mornin' everything will turn out right

It's gonna, it's gonna, it's gonna be a brighter day
It's gonna, it's gonna, it's gonna be a brighter day
It's gonna, it's gonna, it's gonna be a brighter day
It's gonna be, it's gonna be, it's gonna be a brighter day
It's gonna be, it's gonna be, it's gonna be a brighter day
Come on tomorrow
Come on tomorrow
It's gonna be a brighter day

Things were spinnin' 'round me
And all my thoughts were cloudy
And I had begun to doubt all the things that were me
Been in so many places, you know I've run so many races
I looked into the empty faces of the people of the night
Somethin' is just not right

'Cause I know that I've gotta get outta here
I'm so alone
Don't you know that I gotta get outta here
'Cause New York's not my home

Though all the streets are crowded
There's somethin' strange about it
I lived there 'bout a year and I never once felt at home
I thought I'd make the big time
I learned a lot of lessons awfully quick
And now I'm tellin' you that they were not the nice kind
It has been so long since I have felt fine

That's the reason that I've gotta get outta here
I'm so alone
Don't you know that I gotta get outta here
'Cause New York's not my home

That's the reason that I've gotta get outta here
I'm so alone
Don't you know that I gotta get outta here
'Cause New York's not my home

And you think you've seen trouble
Well you're lookin' at the man ah ha
Oh, the world's own original hard luck story
And a hard time losin' man

Oh, sometimes skies are cloudy
And sometimes skies are blue
And sometimes they say that you eat the bear
But sometimes the bear eats you
And sometimes I feel like I should go
Far far away and hide
'Cause I keep a waitin' for my ship to come in
And all that ever comes is the tide

Oh I saved up all my money
I gonna buy me a flashy car
So I go downtown to see the man
And he smokin' on a big cigar
Well he must'a thought I were Rockefeller
Or an uptown man of wealth
He said, "Boy I got the car that's made for you
And it's cleaner than the Board of Health"
Then I got on the highway...oh, I feelin' fine...I hit a bump
Then I found I bought a car held together
By wire, and a couple a' hunks of twine

Oh, Friday night, feelin' right
I head out on the street
Standin' in the doorway
Was a dealer known as Pete
Well he sold me a dime of some super fine
Dynamite from Mexico
I spent all that night
Just tryin' to get right
On an ounce of oregano

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 goodbye
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
It'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

I'm walkin' back to Georgia
And I hope she will take me back
Nothin' in my pockets
And all I own is upon my back

But she's the girl who said she loved me
On that hot dusty Macon road
And if she's still around
I'm gonna settle down
With that hard lovin' Georgia girl

I'm walkin' back to Georgia
She's the only one who knows
How it feels when you lose a dream
And how it feels when you dream alone

Georgia can you hear me callin'
Oh I'll be home in just a while
And if I had to I'd be crawlin'
Just to share another mornin' smile

But you're the girl who said you loved me
On that hot dusty long ago
And if you're still around
I'm gonna settle down
With you my hard lovin' Georgia girl...because

I'm walkin' back to Georgia
And I hope she will take me back
Nothin' in my pockets
And all I own is upon my back

Operator, well could you help me place this call
See, the number on the match book 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

But 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

Operator, well could you help me place this call
'Cause 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 the love that I thought would save me

But 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 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 then kind
You can keep the dime

But 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

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day till 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

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

Oh Rapid Roy that stock car boy
He too much too believe
You know he always got an extra pack of cigarettes
Rolled up in his t-shirt sleeve
He got a tattoo on his arm that say "baby"
He got another one that just say "hey"
But every sunday afternoon he is a dirt track demon
In a '57 Chevrolet

Oh Rapid Roy that stock car boy
He's the best driver in the land
He say that he learned to race a stock car
By runnin' shine outta Alabam'
Oh the demolition derby
And the figure eight
Is easy money in the bank
Compared to runnin' from the man
In Oklahoma City
With a 500 gallon tank

Oh Rapid Roy that stock car boy
He too much too believe
You know he always got an extra pack of cigarettes
Rolled up in his t-shirt sleeve
He got a tattoo on his arm that say "baby"
He got another one that just say "hey"
But every Sunday afternoon he is a dirt track demon
In a '57 Chevrolet

Yeah, Roy's so cool, that racin fool
He don't know what fear's about.
He do a hundred thirty mile an hour, smilin at the camera
With a tooth pick in his mouth.
He got a girl back home, name of Dixie Dawn
But he got honeys all along the way
And you oughta hear 'em screamin for that dirt track demon
in a '57 Chevrolet.

Oh Rapid Roy that stock car boy
He too much too believe
You know he always got an extra pack of cigarettes
Rolled up in his t-shirt sleeve
He got a tattoo on his arm that say "baby"
He got another one that just say "hey"
But every sunday afternoon he is a dirt track demon
In a '57 Chevrolet

Well, out of Southern Illinois
Come a down home country boy.
He's gonna make it in the city
Playin' guitar in the studio.

Well he hadn't been there an hour,
When he met a Broadway flower,
You know she took him for his money
And she left him in a cheap hotel.

Oh, well, it's easy for you to see
That that country boy is me
Saying "And how am I gonna ever
break the news to the folks back home?"

Well, I was gonna be a great success,
Things sure ended up a mess,
But in the process I got messed up too.

"Hello Mamma and Dad I had to call collect
'Cause I ain't got a cent to my name.
Well I'm sleepin' in the hotel doorway,
And tonight they say it's gonna rain.
And if you'd only send me some money
I'll be back on my feet again,
Send it in care of the Sunday Mission
Box number ten."

Well, back in Southern Illinois
They're still worryin' 'bout their boy.
But this boy's goin' home soon's he get's the fare.

Because as soon as I got my bread
I got a pipe upside my head.
You know they left me in an alley,
Took my money and my guitar, too.

"Hello Mamma and Dad I had to call collect
'Cause I ain't got a cent to my name.
Well I'm sleepin' in the hotel doorway,
And tonight they say it's gonna rain.
And if you'd only send me some money
I'll be back on my feet again,
Send it in care of the Sunday Mission
Box number ten."

Seems like such a long time ago,
I was walking on a lonely road.
Getting tired of dreaming alone,
like all the lonely people I had known.

Seems like such a long time ago,
there was no one who would share my song.
I was just a boy far from home,
but I became a man when you came along.

We spent the whole night talking.
You said you'd like to see the sun rise.
But in the gold of morning,
was nothing that I had not seen in your eyes.

I was so afraid to touch you,
thought you were too young, you know.
So I just watched you sleeping.
Then you woke and said to me,
The night is cold, it frightens me.
I could sleep so easy next to you.

Wasn't very long ago,
you said that you would like to share my role.
Then you started singing my song.
Spent so many nights a-waiting,
Lets not spend a moments wasting time,
because we have very far to go.
I will go if you will take me,
I have never had a lover.
I am young but I am so alone.

We spent the whole night talking.
But in the gold of morning...

Hey tomorrow, where are you goin'
Do you have some room for me
'Cause night is fallin' and the dawn is callin'
I'll have a new day if she'll have me

Hey tomorrow, I can't show you nothin'
You've seen it all pass by your door
So many times I said I been changin'
Then slipped into patterns of what happened before

"Cause I've been wasted and I've over-tasted
All the things that life gave to me
And I've been trusted, abused and busted
And I've been taken by those close to me

Hey tomorrow you've gotta believe that
I'm through wastin' whats left of me
'Cause night is fallin' and the dawn is callin'
I'll have a new day if she'll have me

We've been runnin' away from somethin' we both know
We've long run out of things to say and I think I'd better go
So don't be gettin' excited oh-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've been talkin' in silence well if it's silence you adore
Oh there'll be one less set of footprints on your floor in the mornin'

Oh 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 and 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 well that's the way I want it more
Cause there'll be one less set of footprints on your floor in the mornin'
Oh there'll be one less set of footsteps on you floor in the mornin'

Gonna tell you a story, that you won't believe
But I fell in love last Friday evening
With the girl I saw on a bar room TV screen
Well I was just getting ready to get my hat
When she caught my eye, and I put it back
And I ordered myself couple of more shots and beers

The night that I fell in love with a roller derby queen
around and round, a round and round
The meanest hunk of woman that anybody ever seen
Down in the arena

She was 5 foot 6, two fifteen
A beach blonde mama with a streak of mean
She knew how to knuckle and she knew how to scuffle and fight
And the roller derby program said
that she was built like a 'fridgerator with a head
Her fans called her Tuffy, but all her buddies called her Spike

The night that I fell in love with a roller derby queen
around and round, a round and round
The meanest hunk of woman that anybody ever seen
Down in the arena

Well I could not help it, but to fall in love
With this heavy duty woman I've been speaking of
Things were kinda bad, untill the day she skated into my life
Well she might be nasty, she might be fat
But I never met a person who would tell her that
She's my bleach blonde bomber, my heavy handed Hackensack sack mama

The night that I fell in love with a roller derby queen
around and round, a round and round
The meanest hunk of woman that anybody ever seen
Down in the arena

Don't you know I had a dream last night
That you were here with me
Lyin' by my side so soft and warm
And we talked a while
And shared a smile
And then we shared the dawn
But when I woke up
Oh, my dream it was gone

Don't you know I had a dream last night
And you were here with me
Lyin' by my side so soft and warm
And you said you'd thought it over
You said you were coming home
But when I woke up
Oh, my dream it was gone

I'm not the same
Can you blame me
Is it hard to understand
I can't forget
You can't change me
I am not that kind of man

Don't you know I had a dream last night
And ev'rything was still
And you were by my side so soft and warm
And I dreamed that we were lovers
In the lemon scented rain
But when I woke up
Oh, I found that again, I had been
Dreamin', dreamin' again
I had been dreamin,' dreamin' again

Lazy days in mid-July
Country Sunday mornin's
Dusty haze on summer highways
Sweet magnolia callin'

But now and then I find myself
Thinkin' of the days
That (when) we were walking in
The Alabama rain

Drive-in movies, Friday nights
Drinkin' beer and laughin'
Somehow things were always right
I just don't know what happened

We were only kids
But then I've never heard it said
That kids can't fall in love
And feel the same
I can still remember the first time
I told you "I love you"

On a dusty mid-July
Country summer's evenin's
Weepin' willows sang its lullaby
And shared our secret

Walking in the Alabama rain

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 name of Leroy Brown

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

And he's bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damn 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
Under everybody's nose

He got a custom Continental
He got an Eldorado too
He got a 32 gun in his pocket full a fun
He got a razor in his shoe

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

Well Friday 'bout a week ago
Leroy shootin' dice
And at the edge of the bar
Sat a girl named Doris
And oh that girl looked nice

Well he cast his eyes upon her
And the trouble soon began
And Leroy Brown had learned a lesson
'Bout a-messin' with the wife of a jealous man

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

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

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

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

Yeah he was badder than old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog.

Once we were lovers
But some how things have changed
Now we're just lonely people tryin' to forget eachother's names
Now we're just lonely people tryin' to forget eachother's names

What came between us?
Maybe we were just too young to know
But now and then I feel the same
And sometimes at night I think I hear you callin' my name
Mmm hmm hmm these dreams
They keep me goin' these days

Once we were lovers
But that was long ago
We lived together then
And now we do not even say hello
We lived together then
And now we do not even say hello

What came between us?
Maybe we were just too young to know
But now and then I feel the same
And sometimes at night I think I hear you callin' my name
Mmm hmm hmm these dreams
They keep me goin' these days

[No lyrics]

Snowy nights and Christmas lights,
Icy windowpanes,
Make me wish that we could be
Together again
And the windy winter avenues
Just don't seem the same,
And the Christmas carols sound like blues,
But the choir is not to blame

But it doesn't have to be that way
What we had should never have ended
I'll be dropping by today
We could easily get it together tonight
It's only right

Crowded stores, the corner Santa Claus,
Tinseled afternoons,
And the sidewalk bands play their songs
Slightly out of tune
Down the windy winter avenues
There walks a lonely man,
And if I told you who he is,
Well I think you'd understand

But it doesn't have to be that way
What we had should never have ended
I'll be dropping by today
We could easily get it together tonight
It's only right

No, it doesn't have to be that way
What we had should never have ended
I'll be dropping by today
We could easily get it together tonight
It's only right

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

Moving me down the highway
Rolling me down the highway
Moving ahead so life won't pass me by

Like the north wind whistling down the sky
I've got a song, I've got a song
Like the whippoorwill and the baby's cry
I've got a song, I've got a song
And I carry it with me and I sing it loud
If it gets me nowhere, I go there proud

Moving me down the highway
Rolling me down the highway
Moving ahead so life won't pass me by

And I'm gonna go there free

Like the fool I am and I'll always be
I've got a dream, I've got a dream
They can change their minds but they can't change me
I've got a dream, I've got a dream
Well, I know I can share it if you want me to
If you're going my way, I'll go with you

Moving me down the highway
Rolling me down the highway
Moving ahead so life won't pass me by
Moving me down the highway
Rolling me down the highway
Moving ahead so life won't pass me by

I guess that it was bound to happen
Was just a matter of time
Now I've come to my decision
And its a-one of the painful kind
'Cause now it seems that you wanted a martyr
Just a regular guy wouldn't do
But baby I can't hang upon no lover's cross for you

You really gotta hand it to ya
'Cause girl you really tried
But for ev'ry time that we spent laughin'
There were two times that I cried
And you were tryin' to make me your martyr
And that's the one thing I just couldn't do
'Cause baby I can't hang upon no lover's cross for you

'Cause tables are meant for turnin'
And people are bound to change
And bridges are meant for burnin'
When the people and mem'ries they join aren't the same

Still I hope that you can find another
Who can take what I could not
He'll have to be a super guy
Or maybe a super god
'Cause I never was much of a martyr before
And I ain't 'bout to start nothin' new
And baby I can't hang upon no lover's cross for you

'Cause tables are meant for turnin'
And people are bound to change
And bridges are meant for burnin'
When the people and mem'ries they join aren't the same

But I hope that you can find another
Who can take what I could not
He'll have to be a super guy
Or maybe a super god
'Cause I never was much of a martyr before
And I ain't 'bout to start nothin' new
And baby I can't hang upon no lover's cross for you

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 wouldnt 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, Im 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 Ill 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 its true
For workin at this end of niagara falls
Is an undiscovered howard hughes
So baby, dont 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
So baby, dont 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
Yeah I got them steadily depressin, low down mind messin
Workin at the car wash blues

Well, I know it's kinda late.
I hope I didn't wake you.
But what I gotta 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 kinda strange.
Every time 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.

Every time 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 kinda late.
Hope I didn't wake you,
But there's something I just gotta say.
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.