-Rockefeller
-New shoes
-Big cigar
-Dice
-Lowdown
-Specific make and model of car (Lincoln Continental, El Dorado, drop-top Cadillac, ‘57 Chevrolet)
-Alabama
-Cigarettes
-Big women
-Slide trombone
-Riverboats
-May-pop tires
-Nickels
“Car Wash Blues” is a perfect example: this is a song that is literally about depression (specifically of the low-down mind-messing variety) but is in fact the most joyful and rambling celebrations of a healthy ego.
Things Jim Croce sings about when he is feeling despondent
-Matchbooks
-Phone booths
-Dusty shoes
-Dusty old shoes
-Georgia
-Cars, generally
-Women of unspecified size
-Railroads
-New York
-Quarters, dimes
This is unrelated, but a few years ago I tweeted about a dream I had, where I was out dancing and heard a song that dropped the beat after the line RICHARD SCARRY’S BUSYTOWN IS NOW IN EFFECT. Last month a DJ made that dream a reality: