"They should never know of one"

Joey, Joey, king of the streets, child of clay
They let him out in '71, I swear he did look great
"Let's blow this place to kingdom come, let Con Edison take the blame"

They threw him in the hole one time for tryin' to stop a strike
He dressed like Jimmy Cagney he'd lost a little weight
There was talk they killed their rivals, but the truth was far from that
Larry was the oldest, Joey was next to last
To the boss he said, "I have returned and now I want what's mine"
He tried to find the way back into where he left behind

Then he staggered out into the streets of Little Italy

And the men in blue

The hostages were tremblin' they heard a man exclaim
What it's like to be in society with a shackle on your hand
I heard his best friend Frankie say, "He ain't dead, he's just asleep"
They tried to strangle Larry, Joey almost hit the roof
Sister Jacqueline, sister Carmela and mother Mary all did weep
They got him on conspiracy but they were never sure who with
Then I saw the old man's limousine head back towards the grave
I know the men that shot him down will get what they deserve
When they asked him why it had to be that way
Joey and his brothers suffered terrible defeats
One day they blew him down in a clam bar in New York
Joey, Joey, what made them want to come and blow you away?
I guess he had to say one last goodbye to the son
Joey, Joey, what made them want to come and blow you away?
He pushed the table over to protect his family
Joey, Joey, king of the streets, child of clay
And the town of Brooklyn mourned

It's true that in his later years he would not carry a gun
Someday if God's in heaven overlookin' His preserve

Yet he walked right into the clubhouse of his lifelong deadly foe

Well he answered, "Just because"
The sun turned cold over President Street
The police department hounded him, they called him Mr. Smith
"What time is it?" said the judge to Joey when they met
Joey, Joey, what made them want to come and blow you away?
"I'm around too many children," he'd say
"Five to ten" said Joey judge says, "That's just what you get"
It always seemed they got caught between the mob
But Joey stepped up and he raised his hand, said

Joey, Joey, king of the streets, child of clay
Always on the outside of whatever side there was
Joey, Joey, king of the streets, child of clay
He went out that night to seek revenge, thinkin' he was bulletproof
It's peace and quiet that we need to go back to work again"
They said, "A mass in the old church near the house where he was born"
They called Joe 'Crazy' the baby they called 'Kid Blast'
His closest friends were black men 'cause they seemed to understand

And emptied out the register, said, "Tell 'em it was Crazy Joe"
The war broke out at the break of dawn, it emptied out the streets
Joey, Joey, king of the streets, child of clay
Joey, Joey, what made them want to come and blow you away?

He did ten years in Attica, reading Nietzsche and Wilhelm Reich

Joey, Joey, what made them want to come and blow you away?
He could see it comin' through the door as he lifted up his fork
Till they ventured out behind the lines and took five prisoners
No one ever knew for sure where they were really at

"We're not those kind of men
Stashed them away in a basement, called them amateurs
Some say they lived off gamblin' and runnin' numbers too
That he could not save