Early life
Croce was born in South Philadelphia. He graduated from Upper Darby High School in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania in 1960 where in 1976, he was the first former student to be added to the high school's Wall of Fame. Then, while attending Villanova University (1965 graduate), Croce became interested in becoming a professional musician and met his future wife, Ingrid, at a hootenanny at Convention Hall in Philadelphia, where he was a judge for the contest.
Early career
During the early 1960s, Croce formed a number of college bands and performed at coffee houses and universities, and later with his wife Ingrid as a duo in the mid-1960s to early 1970s. At first their performances included songs by Ian and Sylvia, Gordon Lightfoot, Joan Baez, and Woody Guthrie, but in time they began writing their own music, such as "Age", "Hey Tomorrow", and "Spin, Spin Spin" which later led to Croce's hit songs in the early seventies.
At the same time, Croce got his first long-term gig at a rural bar and steak house in Lima, Pennsylvania, called the Riddle Paddock. There, over the next few years, Croce developed a very engaging rapport with tough audiences and built his musical repertoire to over 3,000 songs. His set list included every genre from blues to country, rock 'n roll to folk, with tender love songs and traditional Bawdy Ballads, always introduced with a story and an impish grin.
In 1968, Jim and Ingrid Croce were encouraged to move to New York City to record their first album with Capitol Records. For the next two years, they drove over 300,000 miles playing small clubs and concerts on the college concert circuit promoting their album Jim & Ingrid Croce.
Then, disillusioned by the music business and New York City, Croce sold all but one guitar to pay the rent, and they returned to the Pennsylvania countryside where Croce got a job driving trucks and doing construction to pay the bills. He called this his "Character Development Period" and spent a lot of his time sitting in the cab of a truck, composing songs about his buddies and the folks he enjoyed meeting at the local bars and truck stops.
Success
In 1970, Croce met classically trained pianist/guitarist, singer-songwriter Maury Muehleisen from Trenton, New Jersey. Initially, Croce backed Muehleisen on guitar at his gigs. But in time, their musical strengths led them each to new heights. Muehleisen's ethereal and inspired guitar leads became the perfect accompaniment to Croce's down-to-earth music.
In 1972, Croce signed to a three record deal with ABC Records releasing You Don't Mess Around with Jim and Life & Times in the same year. The singles "You Don't Mess Around with Jim", "Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)" and "Time In A Bottle" (written for his newborn son, A. J. Croce) helped the former album reach #1 on the charts in 1974. Croce's biggest single "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", hit number 1 on the US charts in the summer of 1973, selling two million copies.
Sudden death
Croce, 30, and Muehleisen, 24, died in a small commercial plane crash on September 20, 1973 in Natchitoches, Louisiana one day before releasing his third ABC album, I Got a Name. The posthumous release included three hits, "I Got A Name", "Workin' At The Car Wash Blues" and "I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song."
Musical legacy
In 1990, Croce was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In the late 1990s, Ingrid Croce, Croce's widow, and their son, A.J. Croce obtained the publishing rights for Croce's entire catalog of songs. Since then they have released Jim Croce Home Recordings, Facets, Jim Croce: Classic Hits, and the first-ever DVD of Jim's television performances on "Have You Heard – Jim Croce Live", with their most recent release in January 2006 of a CD of the same title. They also co-produced a PBS special, with archive footage from the Croce family collection, along with excerpts of their DVD Have You Heard – Jim Croce Live.
In 1985, Ingrid Croce opened "Croce's Restaurant & Jazz Bar", located in the historic Gaslamp District in San Diego, California, partially as a tribute to her late husband.
Quotes
His personal motto: "If you dig it, do it. If you really dig it, do it twice."
On his roots: "I never really thought of my neighborhood in South Philly as being a neighborhood, it was more a state of mind. For people who aren't familiar with those kind of places, it's a whole different thing. Like 42nd Street in New York City is a state of mind."
Dreamin' Again
Jim Croce Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That you were here with me
Lyin' by my side so soft and warm
And we talked a while
And shared a smile
And then we shared the dawn
But when I woke up
Oh, my dream it was gone
Don't you know I had a dream last night
You were here with me
Lyin' by my side so soft and warm
And you said you'd thought it over
Said that you were comin' home
But then I woke up
From my dream it was gone
I'm not the same
Can you blame me
Is it hard to understand
I can't forget
You can't change me
I am not that kind of man
Don't you know I had a dream last night
When everything was still
And you were by my side so soft and warm
And I dreamed that we were lovers
In the lemon scented rain
But the I woke up
Oh, I found that again
I had been dreamin'
Dreamin' again
I had been dreamin'
Dreamin' again
The lyrics of Jim Croce's song Dreamin' Again express the yearning of a person for their lost love. The singer expresses how they had a dream where their love was lying by their side, and they were sharing moments and smiles. The person loved the feeling so much that they wished it had never ended. However, when they woke up, they were left with the emptiness that their love had left behind.
In the second verse, the singer repeats the dream scenario, and the love of their life is coming back home. The person is filled with anticipation, and they are excited at the possibility of being together again. However, when they wake up, they realize that it was only a dream. The person is left with a feeling of sadness and longing for a love that is no longer present.
The last verse shows the extent of the person's attachment to their lost love. The singer had a dream that they were together, enjoying the scent of lemon-scented rain, but when they woke up, they were left with nothing but the reality of their loss. The song conveys the sadness that comes with losing someone you loved deeply and the desire to go back to a time when things felt right.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't you know I had a dream last night
I had a dream last night, and I want to share it with you.
That you were here with me
You were here with me in the dream.
Lyin' by my side so soft and warm
You were lying next to me, and we were both comfortable.
And we talked a while
We had a conversation.
And shared a smile
We both shared a smile, which made us both happy.
And then we shared the dawn
We spent the night together and saw the dawn together.
But when I woke up
When I woke up from the dream.
Oh, my dream it was gone
The dream ended abruptly, and I couldn't continue experiencing it.
You were here with me
You were with me in the dream.
Said that you were comin' home
You said that you were coming back home to me.
But then I woke up
Unfortunately, the dream ended, and I woke up.
From my dream it was gone
I couldn't continue experiencing the dream, and it was gone.
I'm not the same
I'm different now than I was before.
Can you blame me
Can you really fault me for feeling this way?
Is it hard to understand
Is it difficult to comprehend my feelings?
I can't forget
I can't forget about you.
You can't change me
You can't change the way I feel about you.
I am not that kind of man
I'm not the type of person who can easily let go of someone he loves.
When everything was still
Everything was quiet, and there was no movement.
And you were by my side so soft and warm
You were next to me, and we were both comfortable.
And I dreamed that we were lovers
In the dream, we were in a romantic relationship.
In the lemon scented rain
In the dream, it was raining, but it smelled fresh and clean like lemons.
Oh, I found that again
I started dreaming again about you.
I had been dreamin'
I had been having a dream.
Dreamin' again
I was dreaming again about you.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JAMES CROCE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@teamrobertson1102
Don't you know I had a dream last night
That you were here with me
Lyin' by my side so soft and warm
And we talked a while
And shared a smile
And then we shared the dawn
But when I woke up
Oh, my dream it was gone
Don't you know I had a dream last night
You were here with me
Lyin' by my side so soft and warm
And you said you'd thought it over
Said that you were comin' home
But then I woke up
From my dream it was gone
I'm not the same
Can you blame me
Is it hard to understand
I can't forget
You can't change me
I am not that kind of man
Don't you know I had a dream last night
When everything was still
And you were by my side so soft and warm
And I dreamed that we were lovers
In the lemon scented rain
But the I woke up
Oh, I found that again
I had been dreamin'
Dreamin' again
I had been dreamin'
Dreamin' again
@reno145
Jim's music can take you back to places you have never been, and make you miss things you never had.
@eugeniobecerra1775
It sounded like you were sort of quoting recently by Jim: "memories can be friends, but they can take you to a place that you'd never thought you'd be again, take you to a face that you never thought you'd see again"
@reno145
@Eugenio Becerra I have been saying you can’t miss what you never had for at least 30 years. But it sure does sound like something Jim would say.
@antoniojaquez2564
Absolutely.
@thomasfarrish8053
I can understand the way you feel. I miss the 1950s-1970s, yet I was born in 1987. I get a feeling of nostalgia that I shouldn't have, but is undeniably profound!
@alterbridgefan99
Facts right there!!!
@shannonasbell7583
He's a legend. We don't have his kind of voice or kind of songs anymore.
@shanephillips1996
I'm 24 and play guitar and sing. Jim is a huge inspiration to me. I want to bring this music back
@victorguzman2321
@Shane Queen you got this keep bringing this music back to life💗
@brianruppert1071
He seems like a dear old friend in so many songs. A voice for the ages.