You Don't Mess Around with Jim (song)
"You Don't Mess Around with Jim" | ||||
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Single by Jim Croce | ||||
from the album You Don't Mess Around with Jim | ||||
B-side | "Photographs and Memories" | |||
Released | June 1972 | |||
Recorded | October 11, 1971; The Hit Factory (New York City) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:02 | |||
Label | ABC | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jim Croce | |||
Producer(s) | Terry Cashman, Tommy West | |||
Jim Croce singles chronology | ||||
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"You Don't Mess Around with Jim" is a 1972
Content
The lyrics are set around an
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
A fellow pool player named Willie "Slim" McCoy comes from south Alabama to the pool hall to get his money back from Jim after being hustled out of it the previous week. When Jim comes in, McCoy gets in a fight with him, stabbing him in "about a hundred places" (to the point where "the only part that wasn't bloody was the soles of the big man's feet") and shooting him "in a couple more", ultimately killing him. It is implied that McCoy now has his money back as well as the respect formerly granted to Jim, and the regulars at the pool hall have now changed their advice to strangers: "You don't mess around with Slim".
The song is noted for its spoken recitation, which is heard following the third verse and chorus:
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
This is followed by the repeat of the chorus and the repeated coda before the song's fade.
Croce tells a similar story— a much-feared tough guy who gets his comeuppance from someone even tougher— in his later hit single "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown".
Reception
Live performances
Live versions of the song have been released on both of Croce's live albums, Have You Heard: Jim Croce Live and Jim Croce Live: The Final Tour.
Track listing
7" single (ABC-11328)[7]
- "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" – 3:00
- "Photographs and Memories" – 2:03
Chart performance
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Poison cover
American
Josh Turner cover
Josh Turner covered "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" on his 2003 debut album Long Black Train.
See also
References
- ISBN 031214704X.
- ^ "50 Rock Albums Every Country Fan Should Own". Rolling Stone. November 12, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ Billboard artist profile
- ^ Google Play Store: You Don't Mess around with Jim
- ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. June 10, 1972. p. 16. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
- ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. June 10, 1972. p. 1. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
- ^ Jim Croce - You Don't Mess Around With Jim / Photographs And Memories
- ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ^ You Don't Mess Around with Jim
- ^ Cash Box Top 100 9/09/72
- ^ Top Singles - Volume 18, No. 5, September 16 1972
- ^ InfoDisc archives
- ^ 1970s Top 100 year-end charts
- ^ The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1972