June 29, 2015

"Hey Joe... Where you gonna run to now/Where you gonna go?/I'm goin' way down south/Way down to Mexico..."

"I'm goin' way down South/Way down where I can be free/Ain't no one gonna find me/Ain't no hangman gonna/He ain't gonna put a rope around me...."



An old tune springs to mind this morning as I'm seeing that prison escapees Richard Matt and David Sweat had a plan to get to Mexico. "The plan was to head to Mexico, which would have been aided by Joyce Mitchell's vehicle... They would get the car and then drive to Mexico.... When Mitchell doesn’t show up, the Mexico plan gets foiled and they head north to Canada."

29 comments:

William said...

Although Mexico has abolished capital punishment, they have had less success in banning mayors from murdering students who protest against their administration. . Also, those headless bodies that turn up in the shopping mall are subversive of the retail therapy experience.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I have enough empathy for my fellow man to know that Canadians must be feeling like real crap, today, to find out that they were second choice after Mexico.

Wilbur said...

I always thought this version of "Hey Joe" by Hendrix was soporific.

Now "Hey Joe" by Carl Smith - that'll get your blood to pumping.

mccullough said...

I was wondered why the narrator ever stopped Joe from shooting his wife/girlfriend.

David Begley said...

Why would any convicted murderer want to go to Mexico?

What could be the attraction?

jr565 said...

Byrds did a version of this on one of their albums. To Digress.

pst314 said...

"Way down where I can be free"

'Cause no man should be imprisoned or executed for murdering his girl friend. Yeah, right. /sarc

Ann Althouse said...

"Byrds did a version of this on one of their albums."

I thought of the Byrds version first and I do prefer it.

The Byrds sound like they might make it to Mexico. Jimi sounds like he's just thinking about it but won't get too far.

madAsHell said...

I don't think they would have made it to Mexico. They still would have needed a stolen, untraceable car, or some other means of conveyance.

Shouting Thomas said...

Your husband is a fucking Nazi thug, prof.

You're headed in that direction, too.

SteveR said...

Shawshank Redemption was a long time ago, you can't just drive across the border at Ft. Hancock and wander down to Zihuatanejo these days.

Fernandinande said...

Wilbur said...
I always thought this version of "Hey Joe" by Hendrix was soporific.


Patti Smith, R. Plant and, uh, Cher have slower versions.

Now "Hey Joe" by Carl Smith - that'll get your blood to pumping.

Different song with the same name.

Roughcoat said...

My favorite version: Johnnie Rivers

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhFWa2l3k5Y

Did a lot great covers (Tracks of My Tears, Baby I Need Your Loving, etc.). An underrated artist. Lush productions, terrific plaintive voice, early-60s almost doo-wop vibe turned psychedelic rocker and soul singer.

Mary Beth said...

Different song with the same name.

It was a good troll.

Fernandinande said...

Version by "The Leaves", sounds like the basis for the Byrd's version.

26 versions:
The Leaves, Jimi Hendrix, Safaries, Love, Byrds, Standells, Music Machine, Shadows of Knight, Cryan' Shames, Guess Who, Deep Purple, Marmalade, Johnny Rivers, Wilson Pickett, Jimi Hendrix, Spirit, Ten Years Later[sic?], Roy Buchanan, Satriani+Vai+May+Rodgers, Robert Plant, Lenny Kravitz, Poppa Chubby, ZZ Top, Randy California, Buckwheat Zydeco.
(izzat 26?)

Tank said...

I actually like Roy Buchanan's take on it.

Patrick said...

Hey, Bo, where you gonna run now, where you gonna go?

jr565 said...

"The Byrds sound like they might make it to Mexico. Jimi sounds like he's just thinking about it but won't get too far." Good way to put it. It sounds more urgent. Like theyre' running towards the border. Jimi's Joeis taking his sweet time, maybe taking some acid on the way.
So, I agree, Jimi's Joe wouldn't get too far.

jimbino said...

If they'd made it to Mexico, it might have made a great movie, like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, who did make it to Argentina and Bolivia.

Robert Cook said...

"'Cause no man should be imprisoned or executed for murdering his girl friend. Yeah, right. /sarc"

Seems like you don't understand the concept of "point of view" in a song or story. The song is about a man who has killed his girlfriend for cheating on him, and his desire to flee the punishment he knows is his due. The song doesn't celebrate Joe's transgression, it merely depicts Joe's own futile dream of escape.

Ann Althouse said...

The Johnny Rivers song that gets to me is ""Summer Rain ,"

Making me want to live in the Rockies.

For half a century!

Robt C said...

A 27th version: Willy DeVille -- his Joe would make it to Costa Rica at least.

jimbino said...

Nobody in his right mind would head to Canada, where the joie de vivre is much lower than in Mexico and all the medical care is much much more expensive. Besides, their best musicians are here in the USSA.

And in Canada, the tequila is expensive when available, and there is a dearth of Mexican restaurants. If you want to damn Canada with faint praise, you could say, "At least Canada isn't Amerika."

Howard said...

Pancho and Lefty by Van Zandt

clint said...

Shucks, this isn't about Joe Biden?

Be said...

Why did I mistake the Animals with the Byrds, in thinking of the cover of Nina Simone's "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood?"

(Looking up the Byrds "Hey Joe" cover.)

Be said...

Didn't much care for it: lots of technic, but none of the emotion that Jimi brought to the original song. (Makes me think of CCR, and the Berkeley take on a South East US accent. Always thought of Bugs Bunny singing "Proud Mary," or "Born on the Bayou.")

This said, I hope that Sweat Lives and that there's the possibility of understanding their plans. This is fascinating stuff.

Saint Croix said...

I prefer Love's version

Mid-Life Lawyer said...

At first I skimmed the post and thought it also mentioned Joni Mitchell. I wondered why they didn't head for a Greek Isle for some goat dancing or maybe California, Ca la Forrrrrnia.