JIM CROCE - NEW YORK'S NOT MY HOME

NEW YORK’S NOT MY HOME

JIM CROCE

SONGWRITER: JIM CROCE

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: YOU DON’T MESS AROUND WITH JIM

LABEL: ABC RECORDS

GENRE: FOLK ROCK

YEAR: 1972

 

             James Joseph Croce (/ˈkroʊtʃi/; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and numerous singles.

     His first two albums were commercially unsuccessful, failing to chart or produce any hit singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to pay bills while he continued to write, record, and perform concerts. After forming a partnership with songwriter and guitarist Maury Muehleisen his fortunes turned in the early 1970s. His breakthrough came in 1972; his third álbum You Don't Mess Around with Jim produced three charting singles, including "Time in a Bottle", which reached No. 1 after his death. The follow-up album, Life and Times, contained the song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", which was the only No. 1 hit he had during his lifetime.

            On September 20, 1973, the day before the lead single to his fifth album, I Got a Name, was released, Croce, along with five others, was killed in a plane crash, at the height of his popularity. Croce's music continued to chart throughout the 1970s following his death. His wife, Ingrid Croce, was his early songwriting partner and she continued to write and record after his death, and his son A. J. Croce himself became a singer-songwriter in the 1990s.

              "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" is a 1972 single by Jim Croce from his album of the same name. The song was also Croce's debut single when it was released in June 1972 on ABC Records as ABC-11328. The song first aired on KHJ 930 AM in Los Angeles when ABC Records promotion man Marty Kupps took the single to the radio station, where it appeared on the KHJ "30" chart at number 27 during the week of June 6. After spending 11 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the song peaked at No. 8 on the week ending September 9. Croce performed the song on American Bandstand on August 12, 1972. Billboard ranked it as the No. 68 song for 1972.

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

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's 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.