Opened up his eyes to the tune of an accordion
Always on the outside whatever side there was
When they asked him why it had to be that way "Well" he answered "just because".
They called Joe "Crazy" the baby they called "Kid Blast"
Some say they lived off gambling and running numbers too
It always seemed they got caught between the mob and the men in blue.
King of the streets child of clay
Joey, Joey
What made them want to come and blow you away.
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.
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.
"Let's blow this place to kingdom come let Con Edison take the blame"
But Joey stepped up, and he raised his hand and said, "We're not those kind of men
It's peace and quiet that we need to go back to work again".
King of the streets child of clay
Joey, Joey
What made them want to come and blow you away.
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".
They threw him in the hole one time for trying to stop a strike
His closest friends were black men 'cause they seemed to understand
What it's like to be in society with a shackle on your hand.
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've returned and now I want what's mine".
King of the streets child of clay
Joey, Joey
What made them want to come and blow you away.
"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 his register, said, "Tell 'em it was Crazy Joe".
He could see it coming through the doors 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.
King of the streets child of clay
Joey, Joey
What made them want to come and blow you away.
I heard his best friend Frankie say, "He ain't 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.
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.
King of the streets child of clay
Joey, Joey
What made them want to come and blow you away.
What saddens me about Dylan sometimes, is how he refused to be treated as the "voice of his generation", yet he didn't mind glorifying others as just that. And sometimes his romanticized versions of real life people turned them into folk heroes, and sometimes he took already established folk heroes (that were real people in the past) and made his own versions of telling their tale. I'm talking about real people in this case, his contemporaries. With some he did the right thing, and they deserved to be "immortalized" the way they did by Dylan, but sometimes he couldn't pick worse people or distort the truth worse than he did. You could compare it to Nazi propaganda even, only in opposite extreme. "Joey" is definitely a good example. What stuck me as the biggest distortion of reality/poetry figure, is the part with the hostages. Joey actually initiated kidnapping and was the first to suggest to kill one of them, so the enemies know he means business. Many more errors about the song, that's just the one that kinda hurt me to find the most. Dylan is still great artist (probably one of my favorites), just saying how even prime art can serve the worst purposes or lead to worst consequences, even if it was made naively. Sorry for spelling btw, and overall English, not my native language, and didn't really had the patience to spellcheck this time.
@gu313 You are right with this song and there is another, where Dylan was wrong:" The Hurricane ".Because in a book about Biko the ANC fighter I read that Biko was killed because of having guns in possession provided by the Hurricane. Carter went there for a boxing promotion and smuggled guns. He was not exonerated of the murder charge, but freed for not having had a fair trial. And even his Canadian wife said later, that she believed he was guilty as charged.
@gu313 You are right with this song and there is another, where Dylan was wrong:" The Hurricane ".Because in a book about Biko the ANC fighter I read that Biko was killed because of having guns in possession provided by the Hurricane. Carter went there for a boxing promotion and smuggled guns. He was not exonerated of the murder charge, but freed for not having had a fair trial. And even his Canadian wife said later, that she believed he was guilty as charged.
This is a sprawling (even by Dylan standards) tune that pretty much glorifies Joey Gallo, one time Mafia boss who was shot down in Little Italy, NYC
Kind of controvesial subject matter, as alot of folks thought Gallo was a psychopathic murderer type of fellow, check out Lester Bangs article "Bob Dylan's Dalliance With Mafia Chic" for a pretty strong rebuttle to this song.
Either way fantastic storytelling.
Very excellent song
This song is a collaboration between Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy, is who wrote the lyrics. Levy was friends with Gallo, and introduced Bob. They were both saddened by the death, and decided to write the song.
good point about the Levy collaboration, they wrote together for most all of the Desire album I think.
Does anyone knows who sings the background vocals?
Emmylou Harris does alot of background vox on this record, I would assume it's her on this track
I've heard rumours that the final episode of "The Sopranos" was based on this song. Does anyone know if that's true?
StallionintheRift12: I don't even think she appears on the album. It's Emmylou Harris who does the backing vocals
I'm pretty sure it's Emmylou Harris. It definitely sounds like her.