Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts

The festival was over, the boys were all plannin' for a fall
 The cabaret was quiet except for the drillin' in the wall
 The curfew had been lifted and the gamblin' wheel shut down
 Anyone who had any sense had already left town
 He was standin' in the doorway lookin' like the Jack of Hearts
 He moved across the mirrored room, "Set it up for everyone," he said
 Then everyone commenced to do what they were doin' before he turned their heads
 Then he walked up to a stranger and he asked him with a grin
 "Could you kindly tell me, friend, what time the show begins?"
 Then he moved into the corner, face down like the Jack of Hearts
 Backstage the girls were playin' five-card stud by the stairs
 Lily had two queens, she was hopin' for a third to match her pair
 Outside the streets were fillin' up, the window was open wide
 A gentle breeze was blowin', you could feel it from inside
 Lily called another bet and drew up the Jack of Hearts
 Big Jim was no one's fool, he owned the town's only diamond mine
 He made his usual entrance lookin' so dandy and so fine
 With his bodyguards and silver cane and every hair in place
 He took whatever he wanted to and he laid it all to waste
 But his bodyguards and silver cane were no match for the Jack of Hearts
 Rosemary combed her hair and took a carriage into town
 She slipped in through the side door lookin' like a queen without a crown
 She fluttered her false eyelashes and whispered in his ear
 "Sorry, darlin', that I'm late," but he didn't seem to hear
 He was starin' into space over at the Jack of Hearts
 "I know I've seen that face somewhere," Big Jim was thinkin' to himself
 "Maybe down in Mexico or a picture up on somebody's shelf."
 But then the crowd began to stamp their feet and the house lights did dim
 And in the darkness of the room there was only Jim and him
 Starin' at the butterfly who just drew the Jack of Hearts
 Lily was a princess, she was fair-skinned and precious as a child
 She did whatever she had to do, she had that certain flash every time she smiled
 She had come away from a broken home, had lots of strange affairs
 With men in every walk of life which took her everywhere
 But she'd never met anyone quite like the Jack of Hearts
 The hangin' judge came in unnoticed and was being wined and dined
 The drillin' in the wall kept up but no one seemed to pay it any mind
 It was known all around that Lily had Jim's ring
 And nothing would ever come between Lily and the king
 No, nothin' ever would except maybe the Jack of Hearts
 Rosemary started drinkin' hard and seein' her reflection in the knife
 She was tired of the attention, tired of playin' the role of Big Jim's wife
 She had done a lot of bad things, even once tried suicide
 Was lookin' to do just one good deed before she died
 She was gazin' to the future, riding on the Jack of Hearts
 Lily took her dress off and buried it away
 "Has your luck run out?" she laughed at him, "Well, I guess you must
 Have known it would someday
 Be careful not to touch the wall, there's a brand-new coat of paint
 I'm glad to see you're still alive, you're lookin' like a saint."
 Down the hallway footsteps were comin' for the Jack of Hearts
 The backstage manager was pacing all around by his chair
 "There's something funny going on," he said, "I can just feel it in the air."
 He went to get the hangin' judge, but the hangin' judge was drunk
 As the leading actor hurried by in the costume of a monk
 There was no actor anywhere better than the Jack of Hearts
 No one knew the circumstance but they say that it happened pretty quick
 The door to the dressing room burst open and a Colt revolver clicked
 And Big Jim was standin' there, ya couldn't say surprised
 Rosemary right beside him, steady in her eyes
 She was with Big Jim but she was leanin' to the Jack of Hearts
 Two doors down the boys finally made it through the wall
 And cleaned out the bank safe, it's said they got off with quite a haul
 In the darkness by the riverbed they waited on the ground
 For one more member who had business back in town
 But they couldn't go no further without the Jack of Hearts
 The next day was hangin' day, the sky was overcast and black
 Big Jim lay covered up, killed by a penknife in the back
 And Rosemary on the gallows, she didn't even blink
 The hangin' judge was sober, he hadn't had a drink
 The only person on the scene missin' was the Jack of Hearts
 The cabaret was empty now, a sign said, "Closed for repair,"
 Lily had already taken all of the dye out of her hair
 She was thinkin' 'bout her father, who she very rarely saw
 Thinkin' 'bout Rosemary and thinkin' about the law
 But, most of all she was thinkin' 'bout the Jack of Hearts