Randy Newman: Little Criminals

Little Criminals, released in 1977

A little bit off the beaten track for a crime-fiction blog, but I thought I’d bring you a little bit of Randy Newman this Friday. Many people only know his work through Disney movies, but he’s a great songwriter and in my view produced some fine short crime fiction.

His 1977 album Little Criminals has 2 great songs in this vein – ‘You Can’t Fool the Fat Man’ and ‘Little Criminals’. Below are the lyrics for ‘Little Criminals’ and a YouTube link so you can listen for yourself. It’s like Elmore Leonard wrote a song.

What you wanna come back here for?
Thought you’re with your uptown friends
Don’t need none of your junkie business
You gonna screw us up again

Get your blackjack off my table
Get your coat out of my rack
We don’t need you ’round here, jerk-off
Chuck, I want you off my back

‘Cause we’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it to the top

Got a gun from Uncle Freddy
Got a station all picked out
Got a plan and now we’re ready
Gonna take that station out

So you go about your business
You just leave use folks alone
We don’t need no two-bit junkie
Screwin’ up our happy home

‘Cause we’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it
We’ve almost made it to the top

Little Criminals also includes Newman’s most famous song, ‘Short People’ and the very sad and much-covered ditty ‘Baltimore’.