Joey: Dylan’s weakest song #9

Thanks to Liam Mogan:

“I think the issue of Dylan's worst song is a difficult one. So often the performance and production can make a good song seem bad and vice versa.

“Andrew Kelly's point about the lack of originality of thought and expression on Dylan's born-again songs is a moot one. But Slow Train Coming and many of the concerts from that era feature some of Dylan's most impassioned performances, which often transcend the actual ideas in the song. Paul Williams has a lot to say on this type of thing - ie you don't have to buy the ideas to be blown away by the performance.

“Similarly, the mid-eighties output, especially, suffer from some of the most unflattering production imaginable. (Empire Burlesque anyone?) There are still some fantastic songs from that time though.

“Personally, I have a real issue with 'Joey'. Not only does it glamorise a highly dubious individual, it prattles on for ages, with its dumb phrases. 'King of the streets?'. Do me a favour - you only have to type 'Joey Gallo' into Google to see that he wasn’t. I don't mind songs about criminals/gangsters per se, only rubbish syrupy/sentimental ones.”