Steve Key: Songs/Lyrics

Shoeless Joe

(Steve Key)

written by Jeff Deitchman; Steve's version was originally recorded for the "Record Time" CD (Local Folkel label, 1992, now out of print), re-released on "Diamond Cuts: Turning Two" (Hungry for Music, 1998), available at www.hungryformusic.com

Gonna sing you a song about Shoeless Joe Jackson
He played for Chicago back in the teens
Some say he was guilty, others say he wasn't
Most everybody say he was the greatest that's ever been

But you won't find his name down in the Hall of Fame
They kicked him out of baseball 'cause they said he took a bribe
They said he took some money on those games with Cincinnati
Though he might've had to tell that lie just to keep himself alive

CH Say it ain't so, Joe
The kids in the bleachers cried
Say it ain't so, Joe
And keep our hopes alive

Charles Comiskey ran a tight-fisted business
Treated his White Sox just like beggars at the gate
So it stands to reason for to crown his perfect season
They'd be tempted to throw it all just to set the old man straight

Cicotte and Gandil got it all set up with the gamblers
A hundred thousand dollars -- a few bucks against disgrace
Joe found out about it, and he tried to let it out
But old man Comiskey just slammed the door right in his face (to CH)

You can read the record, you can sort through all the papers
But in the 1919 series it was the Reds, five games to three
Believe the bosses or the gamblers or the writers
The big money who condemned him or the jury that set him free

And it's all a game but somebody's got to take the blame
Hey why not Jackson? You know, he couldn't read or write.
But Joe's resting easy, though it's wrote he threw the series
He played without an error, batting .375 (to CH)