
Date of issue: 05.02.1989
Song language: English
Joey |
Born in Red Hook, Brooklyn, in the year of who knows when |
Opened up his eyes to the tune of an accordion |
Always on the outside of whatever side there was |
When they asked him why it had to be that way, «Well,» he answered |
«Just because» |
Larry was the oldest, Joey was next to last |
They called Joe «Crazy,» the baby they called «Kid Blast» |
Some say they lived off gambling and runnin' numbers too |
It always seemed they got caught between the mob and the men in blue |
Joey, Joey |
King of the streets, child of clay |
Joey, Joey |
What made them want to come and blow you away? |
There was talk they killed their rivals, but the truth was far from that |
No one ever knew for sure where they were really at |
When they tried to strangle Larry, Joey almost hit the roof |
He went out that night to seek revenge, thinking he was bulletproof |
The war broke out at the break of dawn, it emptied out the streets |
Joey and his brothers suffered terrible defeats |
Till they ventured out behind the lines and took five prisoners |
They stashed them away in a basement, called them amateurs |
The hostages were trembling when they heard a man exclaim |
«Let's blow this place to kingdom come, let Con Edison take the blame» |
But Joey stepped up, and he raised his hands, said, «We're not those kind of men |
It’s peace and quiet that we need to go back to work again» |
The police department hounded him, they called him Mr. Smith |
They got him on conspiracy, they were never sure who with |
«What time is it?» |
said the judge to Joey when they met |
«Five to ten,» said Joey. |
The judge says, «That's exactly what you get» |
He did ten years in Attica, reading Nietzsche and Wilhelm Reich |
They threw him in the hole one time for trying to stop a strike |
His closest friends were black men because they seemed to understand |
What it’s like to be in society with a shackle on your hand |
When they let him out in '71 he’d lost a little weight |
But he dressed like Jimmy Cagney and I swear he did look great |
He tried to find the way back into the life he left behind |
To the boss he said, «I have returned and now I want what’s mine» |
It was true that in his later years he would not carry a gun |
«I'm around too many children,» he’d say, «they should never know of one» |
Yet he walked right into the clubhouse of his lifelong deadly foe |
Emptied out the register, said, «Tell them it was Crazy Joe» |
One day they blew him down in a clam bar in New York |
He could see it coming through the door as he lifted up his fork |
He pushed the table over to protect his family |
Then he staggered out into the streets of Little Italy |
Sister Jacqueline and Carmela and mother Mary all did weep |
I heard his best friend Frankie say, «He is not dead, he’s just asleep» |
Then I saw the old man’s limousine head back towards the grave |
I guess he had to say one last goodbye to the son that he could not save |
The sun turned cold over President Street and the town of Brooklyn mourned |
They said a mass in the old church near the house where he was born |
And someday if God’s in heaven overlooking His preserve |
I know the men that shot him down will get what they deserve |
Name | Year |
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Althea | 2014 |
The Golden Road | 2003 |
Blowing in the Wind | 2014 |
Cold Rain and Snow | 2003 |
Shakedown Street | 2014 |
Touch of Grey | 2003 |
Things Have Changed | 2009 |
Knocking On Heaven's Door | 2019 |
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right | 2017 |
Scarlet Begonias | 2014 |
Box of Rain | 1970 |
Black Peter | 1977 |
Ripple | 1977 |
Viola Lee Blues | 2003 |
Lay Lady Lay | 1969 |
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall | 2017 |
Dark Star | 2003 |
You Belong To Me | 1993 |
Let Me Sing Your Blues Away | 2014 |
Dupree's Diamond Blues | 1969 |