That was how my Dad described him and truth be told, it perfectly fits him. I’ve known his Time in a Bottle and Operator for the longest time but unfortunately, I couldn’t remember the lyrics to google and didn’t know what his name was. Then, came the last day of summer ’08 when my father and me went through his old records and I found Croce. That was nothing but sheer miracle.

Jim Croce’s smooth voice first became known to the world during the mid- and late-60s. Dabbling in mainly folk rock, James Joseph Croce ["crow-chee"] was famous for his guitar tunes and, as I’ve repeated twice, his soothing voice. One look at his face, I guess, nobody thought he could sing like that, eh?

His music tends to be either playful [Bad, bad Leroy Brown; Rapid boy]  or hopelessly romantic [I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song; Time in a Bottle]. The romantic side of Croce touches me deeply. It talks about unrequited love, nostalgic memories, broken heart like no other could say it.

Unlike most of today’s performers, Croce’s lyrics were nothing short of inspirations from God – Take this, for instance from Lovers’ Cross:

“‘Cause now it seems that you wanted a martyr
Just a regular guy wouldn’t do
But baby I can’t hang upon no lover’s cross for you”

And another example from Time in a Bottle:

“If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I’d like to do
Is to save every day
Till eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you”

Just for comparison sake, we’ll take an example of his more tongue-in-cheek songs:

“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”

At the age of 30, at the beginning of his success, Jim Croce died in a plane crash, that same evil fate that claimed another great – Buddy Holly – and tried unsuccessfully to include Travis Barker of Blink 182 earlier this year. [Aaliyah was an accident, not evil fate] His posthumous single – I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song – is the third of such category to top the charts.

I personally listen to Croce whenever I have an emotional turmoil. I find his music to have a soothing quality, even his rock-and-roll numbers. Maybe it’s the voice, maybe it’s the lyrics, I don’t know. He’s the only guy who I have an emotional adoration on. [Let's face it, he's too ugly for a physical adoration]

Sustagenius! used Youtube videos instead of imeem because I know how Hiroshima people hate music that autoplay itself. See, Sustagenius! so considerate. You can show your appreciation in the form of monetary tributes or belanja him makan.