followup on run joey run

I have a couple of followup comments regarding yesterday's post about the David Geddes song, "Run Joey Run."

First, I went to grad school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. There is a street there, called Geddes Avenue. I remember when I first got to Ann Arbor and saw Geddes Avenue, I thought "Just like the singer." And for the two years I was there I referred to it as "David Geddes Avenue" -- as in "Take Washtenaw until you hit David Geddes Avenue." Just one of those little jokes I go with that very few people (if any) know what they're about. While I was writing yesterday's post I looked David Geddes up on Wikipedia to make sure I had my facts straight. Turns out that David, whose real surname was Idema, had gone to the Unibversity of Michigan and takenm "Geddes" as a stage name after the street in Ann Arbor. So I was closer than I realized.

Second, At some point in the 1990's (I don't remember exactly when), the New York Post ran an article about bad pop songs. I sent them a letter to the editor (which they printed) in which I questioned their omission of "Run Joey Run" from the list. One evening after the letter was printed (maybe it was that night, I don't know) I got a call from a woman congratulating me on the letter. She told me that she had met the song's author at a party and he was very pompous, bragging about it. She was glad to see that others realized how bad the song was. I think she was drunk when she called me.

if only he had listened

I was thinking about the David Geddes song, "Run Joey Run." Not sure why.

For those who are unfamiliar, some background: RJR was the title song on David Geddes' 1975 album. It was a big hit, peaking at #4 on Billboard. The song was typical of those on the album in that it ended with a melodramatic twist. Sung from the first-person perspective by the titular Joey, the song recounts the night that Joey's girlfriend, Julie, died. Julie called him to warn that her father is angry and wants to kill him "for what we've done." Concerned, Joey comes over. The melodramatic twist comes when Julie's father tries to shoot Joey, but Julie steps in the way, taking the bullet and dying. Here's the video:

Actually, as much as I want to make fun of the song, it's the best thing on the album.

But my point in mentioning this is that there's one thing that bugs me about it. In the first verse, we hear, "She called me up late that night / She said 'Joe, don't come over.'" She explains that she and her dad had a fight, that dad has sworn vengance, and that dad has a gun. Given all that, I think Joey would have been prudent to stay away. But instead (as we learn in the second verse), he reacted by getting in his car and driving to Julie's place.

Wouldn't the whole sad story have ended much better if he had just listened to her and followed her advice?

Just asking...