Heard a howling banshee  On a funeral stone  Was the sound of the children  Weeping for one of their own  The kid died in an instant  Took a bullet in the back  Shot from a .45 in a police attack  Was a routine shakedown  New Jersey was the place  A quick right from the sin? is where  The kid took it in the face  Chorus:  This is the killing of Joey the jone  Innocent to the bone  Now his name is cast in stone  This is the killing  The killing of Joey the jone  There was a reverend and a doctor  Shaking a mojo around  Little children weeping tears  As Joey was put in the ground  They covered the kid with dust  Nobody was digging the scene  As the local social workers  Moved in; looking mean  Trying to smooth the anger  Firing up the crowd  Trying to get things back together  Force the people underground  Something's going on here  What it is, nobody's sure  The reverend prayed for guidance  And the doctor's seeking a cure  There's a plot smelt to the heavens?  The whole town's hung in shame  Blood on a whole generation  Of a entire city insane  And there's a bridge from coast to coast  Linking people by the hand  At a time when war  Is being declared  On the poor people of the land  Chorus  Now there's a whole lot of talk in the churches  A whole lot of talk around the place  The talk is talk, the talk is cheap  And those who want to save face  This school yard shakedown has got a whole bunch of folks on the run  The reverend, the doctor hit the streets  To see what could be done  And at the funerals down town  The bodies where under age  And there were sermons spoken every night for to calm the peoples' rage  Meanwhile after the killing  At an all-night, candle-lit wake  The hymn was 'no justice no peace,  The powers that be are all fake'  The crowd started a riot  Police cars burned the streets  There was a big fuss  The reverend declared 'we've got to stop or we're all dead meat'  Now the Lord came down  Said 'Reverend get up off your knees  And go to the powers and call out loud  To stop this big city squeeze'  Chorus  Now the doctor said 'we've got to heal this place,  It needs a heart to keep it alive  You've got to speak if there's going to be change  And the Reverend's going to tell you why'  'Some say the crowds are a danger  You see it every time they meet  You might recall that Jesus was nailed by a crowd gathered in the street  But if it's a question of justice  Look them straight in the eye  Say 'Who did the hanging, who did the swinging,  And who was it for that he died?''  Chorus