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"You Don't..."

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"You Don't..." July 6, 2016 It was the summer of  1972.  I was a 14 year-old boy living on the east coast of Florida and Jim Croce released his latest big hit, "You Don't Mess Around With Jim."  Perhaps you remember the title song.  the chorus went like this,      "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." The lyrics are set in a pool hall in New York City.  "Big Jim" Walker is the titular character - note, I did not say hero.  He's portrayed in the song as big, bad, mean and not particularly bright.  The story in song ends violently when Willie "Slim" McCoy ambushes Big Jim and slays him.  The pool hall regulars then change their advice to strangers by saying, "You don't mess around with Slim." Croce's song makes popular street wisdom.