Hey, Hungarian Joe!

National Theatre Budapest

The idea hit me out of the blue. Jimi Hendrix made famous a blues about a crime of passion, Hey Joe, a song that I translated about 40 years ago and have been playing it ever since. For some reason, I figured if I have an american name, “Hobo”, then why couldn't Joe be Hungarian. So, I wrote the sketch of the life of a murderer in one sitting.

Joe was born under the name Magyar József at the end of the 70's. Following the end of communism, his father became a banker and continued to beat his son. His mother was an actress: she played any role except that of the mother. Józsi hated school, and wanted to become a football player. He got into blues, his favourite song was Hey Joe. He was a midfielder in the junior team of BKV Előre, shouting, after each goal scored, one line of the song: “I'm goin down to shoot my old lady”. That's why he was nicknamed Joe.

He never desired a life of luxury, went on to become a tram driver, and married the first woman who went to bed with him. She thought the banker dad would give them a good life, but soon realized this would never happen, so she cheated on her husband. Joe caught them red-handed, and after the woman humiliated him, he shot her with his father's shotgun. Then he called the police, and surrendered, confessing everything. He was punished severely, spending 16 years in jail, suffering each day from his remorse and shame. When he got out, he found himself in today's Hungary, a world completely different from where he grew up. He lived on the streets, with no job, becoming a street musician. That's how he met one of his old classmates who offered him work and a place to stay.

This is the story I wrote in 27 song lyrics. It will come out in the autumn as a double CD, in an audiobook. I showed the material to Vidnyánszky Attila who came up with the idea of a two-character performance around the songs. Joe will be played by an actor, and I, as usual, will play the part of the storyteller.