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 k**ing of Joey the jone Innocent to the bone Now his name is cast in stone This is the k**ing The k**ing 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 k**ing 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