According to the Jim Croce song, what is Leroy Brown meaner than?

According to Jim Croce’s song “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” Leroy Brown is meaner than a junkyard dog. The comparison appears in the song’s famous chorus, which presents Leroy as a feared character from Chicago’s South Side.

Croce’s 1973 story-song builds Leroy’s reputation through exaggerated descriptions: he is said to be badder than old King Kong and meaner than a junkyard dog. The narrative then undercuts that intimidating image when Leroy makes a pass at a married woman named Doris and is attacked by her jealous husband. He ends up looking like “a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone.”

The lyric is sometimes confused with Croce’s earlier hit “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim,” another song built around a tough character and a cautionary tale. They are separate songs, though both use colorful folklore-style storytelling. “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” became Croce’s signature hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973.