Joey Acordes

Bob Dylan - Joey
From Desire (1976)
No Capo
Edited by Jimi Foxx 9/2019
 
 
[Intro]
G  F     C  G  x2
 
C                 D                C                   G
Born in Red Hook, Brooklyn, in the year of a-who knows when
C             D           C                 G
Opened up his eyes to the tune of an accordion
C             D              C               G
Always on the outside of whatever side there was
          Em                      G
When they asked him why it had to be that way,
           C        C/B      Am
"Well," he answered, "just because."
 
C             D       C                 G
Larry was the oldest, Joey was next to last.
C                D           C                     G
They called Joe "Crazy," the baby they called "Kid Blast."
C                       D            C               G
Some say they lived off gambling and runnin' numbers too.
   Em                     G
It always seemed they got caught between
    C          C/B     Am
the mob and the men in blue.
 
[Chorus]
G     C      Am
Joey, Jooooooey,
G           Em       C        Am
King of the streets, child of clay.
G     C      Am
Joey, Jooooooey,
G              F                C         G
What made them want to come and blow you away?
 
[Bridge]
G  F     C  G
 
C                                 D                  C                  G
There was talk they killed their rivals, but the truth was far from that
C                        D                C          G
No one ever knew for sure where they were really at.
C                           D                  C             G
When they tried to strangle Larry, Joey almost hit the roof.
Em                                   G
He went out that night to seek revenge
C                       Am
thinkin' he was bulletproof.
 
C                               D               C                  G
The war broke out at the break of dawn, it emptied out the streets
C                   D                 C         G
Joey and his brothers suffered terrible defeats
C                                D               C             G
Till they ventured out behind the lines and took five prisoners.
Em                                 G
They stashed them away in a basement
C                         Am
called them amateurs.
 
C                              D            C            G
The hostages were tremblin' when they heard a man exclaim,
C                                D                   C              G
"Let's blow this place to kingdom come, let Con Edison take the blame."
C                             D                  C                         G
But Joey stepped up, he raised his hand, said, "We're not those kind of men.
Em                                    G
It's peace and quiet that we need
C                     Am
to go back to work again."
 
[Chorus]
G     C      Am
Joey, Jooooooey,
G           Em       C        Am
King of the streets, child of clay.
G     C      Am
Joey, Jooooooey,
G              F                C         G
What made them want to come and blow you away?
 
[Bridge]
G  F    C       G
 
C                              D                  C         G
The police department hounded him, they called him Mr. Smith
C                           D               C             G
They got him on conspiracy, they were never sure who with.
C                          D                  C        G
"What time is it?" said the judge to Joey when they met
Em                           G
"Five to ten," said Joey. The judge says,
   C          C/B     Am
"That's exactly what you get."
 
C                              D                  C         G
He did ten years in Attica, reading Nietzsche and Wilhelm Reich
C                              D                  C         G
They threw him in the hole one time for tryin' to stop a strike.
C                              D                  C         G
His closest friends were black men 'cause they seemed to understand
Em                           G
What it's like to be in society
C          C/B           Am
with a shackle on your hand.
 
C                              D                  C         G
When they let him out in '71 he'd lost a little weight
C                              D                  C         G
But he dressed like Jimmy Cagney and I swear he did look great.
C                              D                  C         G
He tried to find the way back into the life he left behind
Em                           G
To the boss he said, "I have returned
 C          C/B           Am
and now I want what's mine."
 
[Chorus]
G     C      Am
Joey, Jooooooey,
G           Em       C        Am
King of the streets, child of clay.
G     C      Am
Joey, Jooooooey,
G              F                C         G
What made them want to come and blow you away?
 
[Bridge]
G  F     C  G
 
C                              D                  C         G
It was true that in his later years he would not carry a gun
C                              D                  C         G
"I'm around too many children," he'd say, "they should never know of one."
C                              D                  C         G
Yet he walked right into the clubhouse of his lifelong deadly foe,
   Em                      G
Emptied out the register, said,
C          C/B           Am
"Tell 'em it was Crazy Joe."
 
C                        D                  C         G
One day they blew him down in a clam bar in New York
C                              D                  C         G
He could see it comin' through the door as he lifted up his fork.
C                              D                  C         G
He pushed the table over to protect his family
Em                      G
Then he staggered out into the streets
C          C/B           Am
of Little Italy.
 
[Chorus]
G     C      Am
Joey, Jooooooey,
G           Em       C        Am
King of the streets, child of clay.
G     C      Am
Joey, Jooooooey,
G              F                C         G
What made them want to come and blow you away?
 
[Bridge]
G  F     C  G
 
C                              D                  C         G
Sister Jacqueline and Carmela and mother Mary all did weep.
C                              D                  C              G
I heard his best friend Frankie say, "He ain't dead, he's just asleep."
C                              D                  C         G
Then I saw the old man's limousine head back towards the grave
Em                      G
I guess he had to say one last goodbye
C          C/B           Am
to the son that he could not save.
 
C                              D                  C                    G
The sun turned cold over President Street and the town of Brooklyn mourned
C                              D                  C         G
They said a mass in the old church near the house where he was born.
C                              D                  C         G
And someday if God's in heaven overlookin' His preserve
Em                      G
I know the men that shot him down,
C          C/B           Am
they'll get what they deserve.
 
[Chorus]
G     C      Am
Joey, Jooooooey,
G           Em       C        Am
King of the streets, child of clay.
G     C      Am
Joey, Jooooooey,
G              F                C         G
What made them want to come and blow you away?
 
[Outro]
G  F     C  G
X