1. Bad Bad Leroy Brown (2:58) - This moderately fast song is my favorite Jim Croce song, and probably most other people's also. Leroy is apparently wealthy, for he wears fancy clothes and a diamond ring, and loves to gamble. I infer he's a gangster since he carries a .32 gun and is "badder than old King Kong, meaner than a junkyard dog." In the end, however, he meets his demise after flirting with a married woman at a casino.
2. Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels) (3:45) - The tempo is moderate. The drums enter after the first 44 seconds. The narrator, having lost his girlfriend to his former best friend, asks the operator to help him place a call to Los Angeles, where the couple live. The narrator wants to tell the other man that he's gotten over the heartbreak of losing the woman. In reality, though, he's still heartbroken, hence the parenthetical clause in the title. In the end, he changes his mind about wanting to place the call.
3. Photographs And Memories (2:05) - This song has a similar tempo to the previous one. Now that the narrator's girlfriend has left him, only "photographs" (concrete objects such as cards, letters, and literal photos) and "memories" (abstract pictures in the narrator's mind) remain.
4. Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy) (2:42) - The fast tempo aptly matches the title character. Roy wears a T-shirt, up one sleeve of which he has a cigarette. His arms are tattooed with the words "hey" and "baby." He races his 1957 Chevy all over the States, picking up women along the way.
5. Time In A Bottle (2:24) - This is the second-best of Jim's songs. The tempo is moderate and in 3/4 time. The narrator never seems to have the time he wants to spend with his girlfriend. "If [he] could save time in a bottle" the way some people save money, he'd save each day until the end of the world, and then spend all those days with her. People can avoid spending money to some extent, but everyone spends time in one way or another.
6. New York's Not My Home (3:05) - The tempo is moderate. The narrator has lived in New York City for a year, but now that environment makes him feel sad and lonely; that's why the city is not "home" to him. He hoped to be a star (apparently on Broadway), but after those hopes were dashed, he became disillusioned with everything he used to live for.
7. Working At The Car Wash Blues (2:30) - Although this song is more upbeat than the previous one, the somber mood remains. Having just been released from prison after serving 90 days, the narrator can't find any work that pays better than car-washing.
8. I Got A Name (Fox/Gimbel) (3:09) - Jim recorded this moderately slow song just a week before his death, and he sure did have a name by then, for "Leroy Brown." As the narrator drives along a winding highway, he has both a name (a good reputation inherited from his father), a song, and a dream.
9. I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song (2:31) - The tempo is moderate. The drums, slightly subdued, enter after the first 43 seconds. The narrator has tried many times to tell his girlfriend that he loves her, but "the words just came out wrong." So he decides that a love song is the only way to say it right.
10. You Don't Mess Around With Jim (3:00) - This fast song has a catchy rhythm. It's interesting that the singer and the character have the same first name. But you don't fool with either, just as you don't pull the cape off Superman or the mask off the Lone Ranger.
11. Lover's Cross (3:01) - This drumless, moderate-tempoed song paints the sad picture of a guy who found his girlfriend impossible to please. She wanted more than he was able to give, so he is ending their relationship. He hopes she can find her "super god" in a new man.
12. One Less Set Of Footsteps (2:45) - The tempo is moderately fast. The narrator and his girlfriend have denied for a long time that the love between them has faded, but now they can no longer fool themselves. He decides that it's best to pack all his belongings and move out, so that there'll be "one less set of footsteps on [her] floor" and "one less pair of jeans on [her] door."
13. These Dreams (3:11) - This song, like the one two songs back, has a moderate tempo, no drums, and a sad mood. Here the narrator and his former girlfriend even wish they could "forget each other's names." But lately in his dreams, he's heard her calling his name.
14. Roller Derby Queen (3:26) - The title character of this moderate, swing-tempoed song would be the female counterpart of Rapid Roy from 10 songs back. Anyway, the narrator falls in love with this girl just as he prepares to leave a bar.