It’s only been in the last couple of weeks that I’ve paid more attention to the lyrics in Jim Croce’s song You Don’t Mess Around with Jim to notice that within the story unfolding in the song that the refrain changes in the end and changes the phrase “You don’t mess around with Jim” to “You don’t mess around with Slim“. It’s subtle, but underlines the inherent gruesomeness of the song.
Now I’ll have to go back and revisit his later song Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.
@c Mack the Knife is another gruesome song. In case you are collecting.
@bradenslen Good call Brad! I’m a major fan of Weimar era cinema, Weill, and Brecht. Die Dreigroschenoper is one of my favorite films and I’ve got half a dozen drafts of screenplays of a modernized retelling which heavily features Mackie Messer. One day, it’ll be more than just a collection hopefully.
@c I don’t think I ever saw that film. I’ll have to hunt it down. I wish you luck with your screenplay!
As for the song the first version I ever heard was Bobby Darin’s which is great. Decades later I chanced to hear Louis Armstrong’s version which is brilliant. I love both versions and rotate between the two. It’s hard to believe such a gruesome song can be so cool.