jim croce
Good artists should be forced to stay on the ground. On September 20th 1973 a Beechcraft plane crashed into a pecan tree in Louisiana at takeoff, ending the promising career of both Jim Croce and lead guitarist Maury Muehleisen. Also the agent, the road manager, a comedian and the pilot - who after autopsy was determined dead drunk - perished. The team had just got a breakthrough with "Bad Leroy Brown", and the future seemed bright.
Despite of this, Croce thought about leaving music business to get more time with the family. A letter his wife Ingrid received after his death closes with "Remember, it’s the first 60 years that count and I’ve got 30 to go. I love you".
This song is from "Life and Times" (1973), his forth studio album, and essential to his many fans. A fifth album "I Got a Name" was released posthumously; finished just before the plane crash. Sure, he got a name - only thirty years old.
I'd like to stress the importance of Maury Muehleisen, thus there's a link to his tribute site at the bottom of the page, as well as Jim's. His splendid harmonies and special fingerpicking were a perfect match to Croce's songs. He's been a major inspiration to my own treating of the guitar, together with Happy Traum and Stefan Grossman. Bless their memories.
don't you know I had a dream last night
and 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
and 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 and my dream was gone
I had been dreamin' • dreamin' again
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 then I woke up • oh I found that again
I had been dreamin' • dreamin' again
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
A A/G# A/F# A don't you know I had a dream last night D A and you were here with me Amaj7 F#m Bm ...E7 lyin' by my side so soft and warm A A/G# A/F# A and we talked a while and shared a smile D A and then we shared the dawn Dmaj7 C#m Bm ...E7 but when I woke up oh my dream it was gone A Amaj7 A I had been dreamin' dreamin' again A7 D E7 I'm not the same can you blame me A Amaj7 F#m is it hard to understand D E7 I can't forget you can't change me A Amaj7 F¤m ...Bm E7 I am not that kind of man
