Jim Croce Photographs And Memories[His Greatest Hits]

1.Bad, Bad Leroy Brown

Lyrics：Jim Croce
Music：Jim Croce

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 mens just call him 'Sir'

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

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

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

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

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,

Well the two men took to fightin'
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


2.Operator(That's Not The Way It Feels)

Lyrics：Jim Croce
Music：Jim Croce

Operator, oh could you help me place this call
You see the number on the matchbook is old and faded
She's livin' 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
But let's forget all that
And give me the number if you can find it
So I can call just to tell them 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
But that's not the way it feels

Operator, oh could you help me place this call
'Cause I can't read the number that you just gave me
There's something in my eye's
You know it happens every time
I think about the love that Ihought would save me

Isn't that the way they say it goes
But let's forget all that
And give me the number if you can find it
So I can call just to tell them 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

Operato,r oh let's forget about this call
There's no one there I really wanted to talk you
Thank you for your time
Oh you've been so much more than kind
And you can keep the dime

Isn't that the way they say it goes
But let's forget all that
And give me the number if you can find it
So I can call just to tell them 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


3.Photographs and Memories

Lyrics：Jim Croce
Music：Jim Croce

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


4.Rapid Roy(The Stock Car Boy)

Lyrics：Jim Croce
Music：Jim Croce

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'
And Sunday afternoon he is a dirt track demon
In a '57 Chevrolet

Yeah Roy 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 toothpick 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


5.Time in a Bottle

Lyrics：Jim Croce
Music：Jim Croce

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


6.New York's Not My Home

Lyrics：Jim Croce
Music：Jim Croce

Well 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
And looked into the empty faces of the people of the night
And something is just not right, 'cause I know

That I gotta get out of here
I'm so alone
Don't you know that I gotta get out of 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 awful quick
And now I'm tellin' you
That they were not the nice kind
And it's been so long since I have felt fine, that's the reason

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


7.Workin' At The Car Wash Blues

Lyrics：Jim Croce
Music：Jim Croce

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 Iot 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
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
Yeah I got them steadily depressin', low down mind messin'
Workin' at the car wash blues


8.I Got A Name

Lyrics：C.Fox／N.Gimbel
Music：C.Fox／N.Gimbel

Like the pine trees linin' the windin' road
I've got a name, I've got a name
Like the singin' bird and the croakin' toad
I've got a name, I've got a name
And I carry it with me like my daddy did
But I'm livin' 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'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'll go there proud
Movin' me down the highway
Rollin' me down the highway
Movin' 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
Oh, I know I could share it if you want me to
If you're going my way, I'll go with you
Movin' me down the highway
Rollin' me down the highway
Movin' ahead so life won't pass me by


9.I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song

Lyrics：Jim Croce
Music：Jim Croce

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
'Cause 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 every time I'm near you
I just run out of things to say
I know you'd understand
'Cause 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

'Cause 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 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
'Cause 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


10.You Don't Mess Around With Jim

Lyrics：Jim Croce
Music：Jim Croce

Uptown got it's hustlers
The bowery got it's 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 came a country boy
He say I'm lookin' for a man named Jim
I am a pool-shootin' boy
My name 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

And 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' were done
The only part that wasn't bloody
Was the soles of the big man's feet
Yeah he were cut in in bout a hundred places
And he were shot in a couple more
And you better believe
They sung a different 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


11.Lover's Cross

Lyrics：Jim Croce
Music：Jim Croce

Guess that it was bound to happen
Was just a matter of time
But now I've come to my decision
And it's 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 got to hand it to ya
'Cause girl you really tried
But for every 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 memories 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


12.One Less Set Of Footsteps

Lyrics：Jim Croce
Music：Jim Croce

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
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 been talkin' in silence
But if it's silence you adore
There'll be one less set of footsteps
On your floor in the mornin'

Well baby one less set of footsteps on your floor
One less man to walk in
One less pair of jeans on 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
Oh that's the way I want it more
Well they'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 on 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
Oh that's the way I want it more
Cause baby one less set of footsteps
On your floor in the mornin'

Oh baby one less set of footsteps
On your floor in the mornin'


13.These Dreams

Lyrics：Jim Croce
Music：Jim Croce

Once we were lovers
But somehow things have changed
Now we're just lonely people
Tryin' to forget each other's names
Now we're just lonely people
Tryin' to forget each other'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 calling my name
Mmm-hmm-mmm these dreams
They keep me going 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 calling my name
Mmm-hmm-mmm these dreams
They keep me going these days


14.Roller Derby Queen

Lyrics：Jim Croce
Music：Jim Croce

Gonna tell you a story that you won't believe
But I fell in love last Friday evenin'
With a girl I saw on a bar room T.V. screen

Well I was just gettin' ready to get my hat
When she caught my eye and I put it back
And I ordered myself a couple o' more shots and beers

The night that I fell in love with a Roller Derby Queen
Round and round, oh round and round
The meanest hunk o' woman
That anybody ever seen
Down in the arena

She was five foot six and two fifteen
A bleached-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 call her 'Tuffy'
But all her buddies called her 'Spike'

You know that I fell in love with a Roller Derby Queen
Round and round, oh round and round
The meanest hunk o' woman
That anybody ever seen
Down in the arena

Round and round, go round and round
Round and round, go round and round
Round and round

Well I could not help it
But to fall in love
With this heavy-duty woman
I been speakin' of
Things looked kind of bad
Until 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 big blonde bomber
My heavy handed Hackensack mama

You know that I fell in love with a Roller Derby Queen
Round and round, oh round and round
The meanest hunk o' woman
That anybody ever seen
Down in the arena

Round and round, go round and round
Round and round, go round and round
Round and round