songs about tough guys

[low-key]

Headknocker

He drives a '57 coupe
Walks with a stoop
Swears James Dean isn't dead
He's a dedicated rocker
A real headknocker
Don't look at his lady again
'Cause if he catches you messin'
He's gonna teach you a lesson
Don't let me say it again

Headknocker, headknocker
Comin' on strong, a real showstopper
Headknocker

He might like to fight, oh but boy does he love to play
Ooh, headknocker, headknocker
Ooh, headknocker

He's got an old fender strat
Plays behind his back
While he sings out Louie, Louie
He's a backseat mauler
A barroom brawler
I think he's gonna blacken your eye
If that don't teach you a lesson
Might show you his Smith & Wesson
Don't let me say it again

 

[Philagoofy]

Bad, bad Leroy Brown, baddest man in the whole dang town
Badder that old King Kong, meaner than a junkyard dog.

 

[low-key]

Bad, bad Leroy Brown, baddest man in the whole dang town
Badder that old King Kong, meaner than a junkyard dog.

and of course its sister song

Dont Mess Around with Jim

Uptown got it's hustlers
The bowery got it's bums
42nd Street got Big Jim Walker
He's a pool-shootin' son of a gun
Yeah, he big and dumb as a man can come
But he stronger than a country hoss
And when the bad folks all get together at night
You know they all call big Jim "Boss", just because
And they say

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

Well outta south Alabama came a country boy
He say I'm lookin' for a man named Jim
I am a pool-shootin' boy
My name Willie McCoy
But down home they call me Slim
Yeah I'm lookin' for the king of 42nd Street
He drivin' a drop top Cadillac
Last week he took all my money
And it may sound funny
But I come to get my money back
And everybody say Jack don't you know

And 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

Well a hush fell over the pool room
Jimmy come boppin' in off the street
And when the cuttin' were done
The only part that wasn't bloody
Was the soles of the big man's feet
Yeah he were cut in in bout a hundred places
And he were shot in a couple more
And you better believe
They sung a different kind of story
When big Jim hit the floor now they say

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 Slim

Yeah, big Jim got his hat
Find out where it's at
And it's not hustlin' people strange to you
Even if you do got a two-piece custom-made pool cue

Yeah you don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Slim

 

[Philagoofy]

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

Oops posted same time, great minds think alike!

 

[low-key]

Along came Jones

Well, I plopped down in my easy chair
And turned on Channel Two
A bad gun slinger called Salty Sam
Was a chasin' poor Sweet Sue.

He trapped her in the old sawmill
And he said with an evil laugh
If you don't give me the deed to your ranch
I'll saw you all in half.

And then he grabbed her (and then)
He tied her up (and then)
He turned on the buzz saw
(And then, and then.)

Ah, oh, and then along came Jones
Tall thin Jones
Slow walking Jones, slow talking Jones
Along came long, lean, lanky Jones.

Well, commercial came on so I got up
To get myself a snack
You should have seen what was going on
By the time I got back.

Down in the old abandoned mine
Sweet Sue was a havin' fits
That villain said gimme the deed to your ranch
Or I'll blow you all to bits.

And then he grabbed her (and then)
He tied her up (and then)
He lit the fuse to the dynamite
(And then, and then.)

Ah, oh, and then along came Jones
Tall thin Jones
Slow walking Jones, slow talking Jones
Along came long, lean, lanky Jones.

--- Instrumental ---

Well, I got so bugged I turned it off
And turned on another show
But there was the same old shoot-em up
And the same old rodeo. ya

Salty Sam was a tryin'
To stuff Sweet Sue in a burlap sack
He said if you don't give me the deed to your ranch
I'm gonna throw you on the railroad track.

And then he grabbed her (and then)
He tied her up (and then)
A train started coming
(And then, and then) eh eh

Ah, oh, and then along came Jones
Tall thin Jones
Slow walking Jones, slow talking Jones
Along came long, lean, lanky Jones.

Along came long, lean, lanky Jones...

 

[Philagoofy]

Along Came Jones reminds me of:

Big John
Big John

Ev'ry mornin' at the mine you could see him arrive
He stood six foot six and weighed two forty five
Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip
And everybody knew, ya didn't give no lip to Big John

(Big John, Big John)
Big Bad John
(Big John)

Nobody seemed to know where John called home
He just drifted into town and stayed all alone
He didn't say much, he kinda quiet and shy
And if you spoke at all, he just said, "Hi" to Big John

Somebody said he came from New Orleans
Where he got in a fight over a Cajun Queen
And a crashin' blow from a huge right hand
Sent a Louisiana fellow to the Promised Land, Big John

(Big John, Big John)
Big Bad John
(Big John)

Then came the day at the bottom of the mine
When a timber cracked and men started cryin'
Miners were prayin' and hearts beat fast
And everybody thought that they'd breathed their last, 'cept John

Through the dust and the smoke of this man made hell
Walked a giant of a man that the miners knew well
Grabbed a saggin' timber, gave out with a groan
And like a giant Oak tree, he just stood there alone, Big John

(Big John, Big John)
Big Bad John
(Big John)

And with all of his strength he gave a mighty shove
Then a miner yelled out, "There's a light up above"
And twenty men scrambled from a would-be grave
Now there's only one left down there to save, Big John

With jacks and timbers they started back down
Then came that rumble way down in the ground
And then smoke and gas belched out of that mine
Everybody knew it was the end of the line for Big John

(Big John, Big John)
Big Bad John
(Big John)

Now they never reopened that worthless pit
They just placed a marble stand in front of it
These few words are written on that stand
At the bottom of this mine lies a big, big man, Big John

(Big John, Big John)
Big Bad John
(Big John)

(Big John)
Big Bad John

Songwriters
DEAN, JIMMY

 

[Fortuosity]

not many tougher than this dude: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeNMz1a7_JM

 

[Philagoofy]

not many tougher than this dude: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeNMz1a7_JM

 

[low-key]

A Boy Named Sue


Well my daddy left home when I was three
And he didn't leave much to ma and me
Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.
Now, I don't blame him cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left, he went and named me "Sue."

Well, he must o' thought that is quite a joke
And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of folk,
It seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head,
I tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Sue."

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean,
My fist got hard and my wits got keen,
I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.
But I made a vow to the moon and stars
That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
And kill that man who gave me that awful name.

Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew.
At an old saloon on a street of mud,
There at a table, dealing stud,
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "Sue."

Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
From a worn-out picture that my mother'd had,
And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
He was big and bent and gray and old,
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold
And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' How do you do!
Now your gonna die!!"

Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
And he went down, but to my surprise,
He come up with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.
But I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the wall and into the street
Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.

I tell ya, I've fought tougher men
But I really can't remember when,
He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.
I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss,
He went for his gun and I pulled mine first,
He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile.

And he said: "Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.
So I give ya that name and I said goodbye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's the name that helped to make you strong."

He said: "Now you just fought one hell of a fight
And I know you hate me, and you got the right
To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do.
But ya ought to thank me, before I die,
For the gravel in ya guts and the spit in ya eye
Cause I'm the son-of-a-***** that named you "Sue.'"

I got all choked up and I threw down my gun
And I called him my pa, and he called me his son,
And I came away with a different point of view.
And I think about him, now and then,
Every time I try and every time I win,
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
Bill or George! Anything but Sue! I still hate that name!

 

[Fortuosity]

Blue Cyclone - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scJKL2D_ZAw
The Champion - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec9AZjT7_6k

 

[Fortuosity]

Leroy Brown was the 1st one to pop in my mind's eye, but ya beat me to him.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Do songs about serial killers count?

My mind immediately jumped to Mack the Knife. (Which, I dimly remember reading somewhere, is derived from a very, very old traditional song about a serial killer. . .)

Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear
And he shows 'em, pearly white
Just a jack knife has Macheath, dear
And he keeps it, keeps it way out of sight

When that shark bites with his teeth, dear
Scarlet billows, they begin to spread
Fancy white gloves though has Macheath, dear
So there's rarely, never one trace of red

On the sidewalk, one Sunday mornin'
Lies a body oozin' life
Someone's sneaking 'round the corner
Could that someone, perhaps, perchance, be Mack the Knife?

From a tugboat on the river goin' slow
A cement bag, it is dropping down
Yeah, the cement is just for the weight, dear
You can make a large bet Macheath is back in town

My man Louie Miller, he split the scene, babe
After drawin' out all the bread from his stash
Now Macheath spends just like a pimp, babe
Do you suppose that our boy, he did something rash?

Ah, old Satchmo, Louis Armstrong, Bobby Darrin
They did this song nice, Lady Ella too
They all sang it, with so much feeling
That Old Blue Eyes, he ain't gonna add nothing new

But with Quincy's big band, right behind me
Swinging hard, Jack, I know I can't lose
When I tell you, all about Mack the Knife babe
It's an offer, you can never refuse

We got George Benson, we got Newman & Foster
We got the Brecker Brothers, and Hampton's bringing up the rear
All these bad cats, and more, are in the band now
They make the greatest sounds, you ever gonna hear

Hey Sookie Taudry, Jenny Diver, Polly Peachum, Old Miss Lulu Brown
Oh the line forms, on the right dear
Now that Macheath, I mean that man Macheath
Yeah he's bad, mercy mercy
Yeah he's badder than old Leroy Brown
You better lock your door, and call the law
Because Macheath's, that bum,
He's back in town