'Joey' by Dylan on 'Desire' cd

[Nikolaj]

I wonder if anyone else is really fond of Bob Dylan's 'Desire' album, in particular the track, 'Joey'. It's so magnificent, to me, anyone else? It's like a 9 minute ( I think that's the length) movie, it is such amazing writing, and Dylan's vocal on it is so effective plus there's the gorgeous Emmylou Harris harmony, which I find a tad Stevie-esque.
I'm going to Google the song, but I wonder how much of it is based upon a true story. The song itself is epic and haunting, and you can just tell what a movie it could make. I wonder why no film adapatation was made of it. I think Dylan's lyrics alone sound like a movie better than 'The Godfather'/ For those who don't know, it's a song about a dead gangster.
I'd heard the song as a child or pre-teen, remembered it as striking, a month ago I went out and bought 'Desire' by Dylan, played it twice then kind of forgot about it, til I played 'Joey' 3 times today on a long road trip, hearing more in the song each time. What's it have, like 9 verses and 7 choruses? So excellent. And Emmylou on it, chills. I almost feel cheated not having heard it for 30 years or more. The last track which has 'Sarah' in the title is a really good song, too. The cds in the car, so I can't give the exact title, but its the 9th and final track on the cd, 'Sara(h?) "The Sad Eyed Lady of The Lowlands" or something. I wonder how Dylan was ever able to perform 'Joey' live, there are so many verses, and they're complex. He must have used cheat sheats, don't you think? No teleprompters back in the 7os. Great, great song to me.

[chriskisn]

Originally Posted by Nikolaj

I wonder if anyone else is really fond of Bob Dylan's 'Desire' album, in particular the track, 'Joey'. It's so magnificent, to me, anyone else? It's like a 9 minute ( I think that's the length) movie, it is such amazing writing, and Dylan's vocal on it is so effective plus there's the gorgeous Emmylou Harris harmony, which I find a tad Stevie-esque.
I'm going to Google the song, but I wonder how much of it is based upon a true story. The song itself is epic and haunting, and you can just tell what a movie it could make. I wonder why no film adapatation was made of it. I think Dylan's lyrics alone sound like a movie better than 'The Godfather'/ For those who don't know, it's a song about a dead gangster.
I'd heard the song as a child or pre-teen, remembered it as striking, a month ago I went out and bought 'Desire' by Dylan, played it twice then kind of forgot about it, til I played 'Joey' 3 times today on a long road trip, hearing more in the song each time. What's it have, like 9 verses and 7 choruses? So excellent. And Emmylou on it, chills. I almost feel cheated not having heard it for 30 years or more. The last track which has 'Sarah' in the title is a really good song, too. The cds in the car, so I can't give the exact title, but its the 9th and final track on the cd, 'Sara(h?) "The Sad Eyed Lady of The Lowlands" or something. I wonder how Dylan was ever able to perform 'Joey' live, there are so many verses, and they're complex. He must have used cheat sheats, don't you think? No teleprompters back in the 7os. Great, great song to me.

Well Dylan does use cheat sheets now, he has the lyrics to his songs next to the piano. His songs are so complex though that I'm hardly surprised he can't remember all of the lyrics.

Anyway, as a big Dylan fan (owning all of his albums) I do like some of the songs off Desire, specifically Hurricane, Isis (one of my favourite Dylan songs), Joey and yes of course, "Sara" (a pleading song to his wife at the time).

The song Joey is apparently about Joey Gallo a mobster who was killed in the early seventies. Dylan apparently didn't write the lyrics to the song (or so he claims) they were written by Jacques Levy who co-wrote a lot of the stuff on the album. If that is true (and of course Dylan makes up stories about things all the time) then Jacques Levy wrote a song that was highly suited to Dylan - that long rambling storytelling that he does so well.

My favourite song off Desire is Sara though. Nothing quite comes close to the raw emotion of the song.

Perhaps my favourite Dylan songs though, with amazingly rich imagery, are Man in the Long Black Coat (from Oh Mercy) and Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts (from Blood on the Tracks). I love that Dylan's songs create a picture in my mind, that I am drawn in to the story, and can imagine actually being there. No other artist does that for me.

[Nikolaj]

Chriskisn wrote>>Well Dylan does use cheat sheets now, he has the lyrics to his songs next to the piano. His songs are so complex though that I'm hardly surprised he can't remember all of the lyrics.

Anyway, as a big Dylan fan (owning all of his albums) I do like some of the songs off Desire, specifically Hurricane, Isis (one of my favourite Dylan songs), Joey and yes of course, "Sara" (a pleading song to his wife at the time).

The song Joey is apparently about Joey Gallo a mobster who was killed in the early seventies. Dylan apparently didn't write the lyrics to the song (or so he claims) they were written by Jacques Levy who co-wrote a lot of the stuff on the album. If that is true (and of course Dylan makes up stories about things all the time) then Jacques Levy wrote a song that was highly suited to Dylan - that long rambling storytelling that he does so well.

My favourite song off Desire is Sara though. Nothing quite comes close to the raw emotion of the song.

Perhaps my favourite Dylan songs though, with amazingly rich imagery, are Man in the Long Black Coat (from Oh Mercy) and Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts (from Blood on the Tracks). I love that Dylan's songs create a picture in my mind, that I am drawn in to the story, and can imagine actually being there. No other artist does that for me.

*Thanks so much for that reply, I enjoyed reading it a lot. I really like Dylan's red box set that has the 10 limited edition postcards, 40 page booklet and 'each cd in a mini-vinyl sleeve'. It's such a great looking package with the ye-old Columbia Records logo embossed in gold on the black velvet when you open the box. Yes, there are also 51 songs on 3 cds that I'm still absorbing. But for you to have every release of his, wow, you must need a Dylan room!
I can't believe 'Idiot Wind' didn't make it onto the boxset, and would I ever love to hear Stevie Nicks sing it. But I don't think anyone's ever dared to cover 'Idiot Wind', much like 'Joey'- they are just his and his alone, I guess.

[chriskisn]

Originally Posted by Nikolaj

Chriskisn wrote>>[I] But for you to have every release of his, wow, you must need a Dylan room!

Almost! I've lost count of how many albums - all the official releases, the official "bootleg" series, and even a few bootlegs.

Funnily enough though I don't have the 3CD set that you mention, simply because it was just the same stuff that I already have.

I've seen him twice in concert - the first time I was standing about 10 metres away from him which was great, the second time was a decade or so later (a couple of years ago). Both times were amazing, despite all of the criticism that he can't sing. I loved every minute!