Joey (Bob Dylan song)

"Joey" treats its titular protagonist sympathetically, despite his violent history. In addition Gallo was able to gain sympathy in artistic circles by passing himself off as a cultured person victimized by the "system". In a 2009 interview with Bill Flanagan, Dylan claimed that Levy wrote all the words to this song. This, however, contradicts what Levy had told critic Lester Bangs at the time of Desire's release. == Reception and legacy ==

As a result of Dylan's sympathetic treatment of Gallo, critics such as Lester Bangs harshly criticized the song upon its release. Bangs described it as "repellent romanticist bullshit". The song's legacy remains mixed: a USA Today article ranking "all of Bob Dylan's songs" called it "forgettable" and lamented that it had replaced "Abandoned Love" on Desire's final track list but in a readers' poll conducted by Mojo, "Joey" was rated the 74th most popular Bob Dylan song of all time. Jerry Garcia, who was responsible for getting Dylan to start performing it live in 1987, considered it a "great song" and Dylan himself characterized it as "Homeric" when discussing his Nobel Prize in Literature win with Edna Gundersen in 2016. Critic Paul Zollo, writing in American Songwriter magazine, called it a "beautifully detailed and cinematic" song and a "masterpiece" in 2021. ==Live performances==

According to his official website, Dylan has played the song 82 times in concert between 1987 and 2012. It is the only song from Desire that he performed with any regularity after 1976. A live version from 1987 appears on the live album Dylan and the Dead. ==Notable covers==

Italian-American outlaw musician Johnny Thunders recorded an abbreviated acoustic version on his album Hurt Me (1983). During their rise to popularity, Old Crow Medicine Show played the song often as part of encore sets. St. Louis garage-punk-blues band The Cripplers recorded a cover of Thunders' cover on their 2001 album One More for the Bad Guys. The Brazilian singer Vitor Ramil has released a version named "Joquim" on his 1987 album Tango. ==References==