You Don’t Mess Around With Jim

YOU DON’T MESS AROUND WITH JIM
By Jim Croce
Key:F

Up-town got its hust-lers
4 4 -3* 3* -3* 4
The Bow-‘ry got its bums
-2 4 -3*3* -3* 3* 4
For-ty sec-ond street
4 4 4 3* -3*
got big Jim Wal-ker
3* 4 -3*3*-3* 3*
He’s a pool shoot-in’ son of a gun
-2 -2 4 -3* 3* -3* 3*-3* 4
Ya, he’s big and dumb as a man can come
4 4 4 -3*3* -3*-3* 3* 4 4 -3*3*
But he’s strong-er than a coun-try horse
-2 -2 4 3* -3* 3* -3* 3* 4
And when the bad folks all
4 4 4 -5* 4 4
get to-geth-er at night
-3* 3* -3* 4 4 -3*
You know they all call big Jim boss,
3* -2 -2 4 -3*-2 3* -3*3*-3*3*-2
just be-cause, and they say
3* -2 -2 -2 -2 -2

{Refrain}
You don’t tug on Sup-er-man’s cape
-1* -2 -3*-3* -3* 3* 4 -3*
You don’t spit in-to the wind
-2 -2 -3* -3* 3* 4 3*3-2
You don’t pull the mask
-2 -2 -3* 3* -3*
off the old Lone Ran-ger
-3* 3* -3* -3* -3* 3*
And you don’t mess a-round with Jim,
-3* 3* 4 -3* 3* 3* -2 -2

Well out of south Al-a-bam-a
4 4 4 4 -3* 3*-3* 3*
come a coun-try boy
-3* 3* 4 -2 -2
He said, “I’m look-ing
-2 -2 -2 4 3*
for a man named Jim
-3* 3* -3* 3* 4
I am a pool shoot-in’ boy,
4 4 4 4 3* 3* -3*
my name is Wil-lie Mc-Coy
3* -3* 3* 4 4 4 3*
But down home they call me Slim
-2 -2 4 -3* 3* -3* 4
And I’m look-ing for
4 4 4 3* -3*
the king of For-ty sec-ond street
3* -3* 3* -3* 3* 4 -2 -2
He’s driv-in’ a drop top Cad-il-lac
-2 -2 -2 -2 4 4 -3* 3* 4
Last week he took all my mon-ey,
4 4 4 -5* 4 4 -3* 4
and it may sound fun-ny
-3* 3* 4 4 -3* 3*
But I’ve come to get my mon-ey back,”
-2 -2 4 3* -3* 3* 3*-3* -3*3*-2
and ev’ry-bod-y said, Jack, don’t you know
-2 3* -2 -2-1* -2 -2 -2 -2 -2
{Refrain}
You don’t tug on Sup-er-man’s cape
-2 -2 -3* -3*-3* 3* 4 -3*
You don’t spit in-to the wind
-2 -2 -3* -3* 3* 4 3*3-2
You don’t pull the mask
-2 -2 -3* 3* -3*
off the old Lone Ran-ger
-3* 3* -3* -3* -3* 3*
And you don’t mess a-round with Jim,
-3* 3* 4 -3* 3* 3* -2 -2

Well a hush fell over the pool room
When Jim he come boppin’ 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
And 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

{As refrain}
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, da, do, da, do…
{Repeat}

{Spoken}
Yeah, big Jim got his hat
Find out where it’s at
And not hustling people strange to you
Even if you do got a two piece custom made pool cue