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 a-next to last,
They called Joe "Crazy", the baby they called "Kid Blast",
Some say they lived off gambling and running numbers too,
Seemed like always they'd be 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 really knew for sure wherever they were at.
They tried to strangle Larry, Joey almost a-hit the roof,
He went out that night to seek revenge, thinking he was bulletproof.
When a horror
1 broke out at the break of dawn and emptied out the streets,
Joey and his brothers suffered terrible defeats.
Well, they ventured out behind the line and took five prisoners,
Stashed 'em away in a basement, called 'em "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."
Joey, Joey,
King of the streets, child of clay,
Joey, Joey,
What made them want to come and blow you away?
The police department hounded him and called him "Mr. Smith",
They got him on conspiracy, but they never said who with.
"What time is it?" said the judge to Joey when they met.
"Five to ten," said Joey. Judge says, "That's just what you get."
He did ten years in Attica, [incomprehensible]
2 and Wilhelm Reich,
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.
They let him out in '71, I swear he did look great,
He dressed like Jimmy Cagney, but he did – lost a little weight.
He tried to find a way back into where he left behind,
To the boss he said, "I have returned and now I want what's mine."
Joey, Joey,
King of the streets, child of clay,
Joey, Joey,
Why did they have to come blow you away?
It's true that in his later years he would not carry a gun:
"I'm around too many children," he said, "they should never know of one."
Yet he walked right into the clubhouse of his lifelong, deadly foe
And emptied out the register, said, "Tell 'em 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.
Joey, Joey,
King of the streets, child of clay,
Joey, Joey,
What made them want to come and blow you away?
Sister Jacqueline, sister Carmela, and mother Mary all did weep,
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.
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.
Someday, if God's in heaven overlooking His preserve,
I know that the men that shot him down will get what they deserve.
Joey, Joey,
King of the streets, child of clay,
Joey, Joey,
What made them want to come and blow you away?
1
Dylan definitely does not sing "war" here, as in the album version, but whether or not it's "horror" is only my best guess.
2
I can't even be sure that Dylan says "reading" here and what used to be "Nietzsche" is now some other name or word, but what I can't tell. It almost sounds like Dylan says "Wilhelm" twice or at least a name that sounds like "Wilhelm".