The name Jim Croce may not mean much to many people. For me, I knew him as the singer of that song about time being in a bottle that was used magnificently in a recent X-Men movie with Quicksilver running around as the world moved in slow motion. When I was younger, my dad would also pick up his guitar and play some of Croce’s songs, which is one of the memories from my childhood that encouraged me to pick up the guitar myself. When I listen to one song that I like, I sometimes explore the whole album. Croce’s 1972 You Don’t Mess Around With Jim album is a surprisingly high-quality collection of acoustic songs that hit strings of love, regret, and hope.

The album begins with You Don’t Mess Around with Jim, a blues shuffle that tells the tale of a big, bad man named Jim who is feared and revered by the residents of his neighborhood for his strength and conviction. Putting this situation into rhetorical terms, the refrain goes: “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”. Following the first refrain, Croce introduces a young challenger named Willie McCoy who goes by the nickname Slim. The week prior, Jim had taken all of Slim’s money and Slim was back for revenge. The two get into a fight, and Jim ends up “cut in about a hundred places” and “shot in a couple more”. By the last refrain, Croce is singing: “You don’t mess around with Slim”. Croce’s ability to tell an engaging story over a basic blues riff is clearly felt in this tune.

Shifting gears, the next tune, Tomorrow’s Gonna Be A Brighter Day features Croce writing a letter to his significant other about not fulfilling his role to her as well as he could: “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”. Despite this unfortunate message, Croce repeats multiple times throughout the song that tomorrow will in fact be a brighter day, providing some optimism that bad circumstances can still have good outcomes.

On the flip side, Hard Time Losin’ Man’s upbeat tone contrasts with the unfortunate series of events that Croce encounters, including losing his money and having his new car break down: “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”.

Two songs off of the album, Time in a Bottle and Photographs and Memories continue the reflective tone in a calmer way, reflecting on ways to make good times last. In 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”. In Photographs and Memories: “Photographs and memories / Christmas cards you sent to me / All that I have are these / To remember you”. Despite being released in 1972, Croce’s album is, without a doubt, timeless.