Run Joey Run

"Run Joey Run"
Cover with lyrics
Single by David Geddes
Released	1975
Recorded	1975
Genre	Pop, rock, ballad
Length	2:55
Writer(s)	Paul Vance, Jack Perricone, aka Perry Cone
Producer	Paul Vance

"Run Joey Run" is a teenage tragedy song performed by soft rock singer David Geddes. It was a U.S. Top 5 hit which peaked at #4 in the fall of 1975.

Story

The song opens with a female voice pleading with her father:
"Daddy, please don't -- it wasn't his fault. He means so much to me!
"Daddy, please don't: we're gonna get married; just you wait and see."

Geddes sings from first person narrative in the character of the titular young man. Joey recalls the events leading up to a recent tragedy in which his girlfriend Julie is unintentionally gunned down by her own father, who intended to kill Joey after learning that Julie was pregnant with Joey's child. Joey himself admits that he repeatedly relives the tragedy in his mind every time he tries to sleep.

Late one night, Julie called Joey warning him not to visit; Julie and her dad had a fight that turned violent when Julie revealed that she was pregnant (this was only implied in the lyrics due to censorship issues in 1975). Though Julie's father furiously swore his own vengeance, Joey, ignoring his own peril, immediately rushes over to Julie's home; Julie, with a bruised face, tearfully rushes to Joey's arms.

Moments later Julie's father, armed with a gun, sneaks up behind the two of them. Just as he pulls the trigger Julie steps into his line of fire and sacrifices herself to spare Joey's life. Julie's last words as she lay dying in Joey's arms were a repeat of the opening (also used between the first and second verses), but Julie expires before she can sing the last five words, "just you wait and see". The song ends with a reprise of the chorus, ("Run Joey run Joey run...").

Reception

"Run Joey Run" was released in the late summer of 1975, by October the song had peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It would be Geddes' only Top 10 hit; his only other hit would barely pierce the Top 20 one month later.

According to Casey Kasem's "American Top 40", David had recorded several singles for major record labels; none of them were successful. He decided to leave the music business and return to school. David was attending law school at Wayne State University in Detroit when he was called by producer Paul Vance to record a song that Vance and Perricone had written. Perricone, who had previously arranged a couple of recordings that Davis Geddes had made with a group called the Rock Garden, remembered David's voice from his earlier records and played the recordings for Vance, who thought that David would be perfect for their new song. David flew to New York City to record the vocals for the song, and then returned to Detroit to begin his third year of law school. Several months later, the song, "Run Joey Run", began to race up the Billboard Hot 100. David dropped out of law school with only one semester to go and re-entered the music business.

Glee cover

"Run Joey Run"
Single by Lea Michele, Mark Salling, Jonathan Groff, Cory Monteith, Heather Morris and Naya Rivera
Released	2010
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2010
Genre	Pop-rock
Length	2:51
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Paul Vance
Glee Cast singles chronology
"Physical" (2010) "Run Joey Run" (2010) "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (2010)

The song was covered in the Glee episode "Bad Reputation".

Charts

^{[citation needed]}

Peak position	Chart
Irish Singles Chart	45
US Billboard Hot 100	4
Canadian Hot 100	45