Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts (Live)

Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts (Live) - Joan Baez (瓊·貝茲)

The festival was over and the boys

Were all planning for a fall

The cabaret was quiet except

For the drilling in the wall

The curfew had been lifted and

The gambling wheel shut down

Anyone with any sense had

Already left town

He was standing in the doorway

Looking like the Jack of Hearts

He moved across the mirrored room

"Set em up for everyone" he said

Then everyone commenced to do what

They've been doin' before

He moved their heads

He walked up to a stranger

And he asked him with a grin

Would you kindly tell me Mister

What time the show begins

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 and she

Was hopin' for a third to match her pair

Outside the streets were fillin' up

And the window was open wide

The 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' oh

So dandy and so fine

With his bodyguards and his

Silver cane and every hair in place

He took whatever he wanted to

And he laid it all to waste

But his bodyguards and his silver cane

They 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

"I'm sorry darlin' that I'm late"

But he didn't seem to hear

He was staring into space

Over at the Jack of Hearts

Well 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 up the Jack of Hearts

Lily was a princess she was

Fair-skinned and precious as a child

She had that certain something

It was a kind of a flash every time she smiled

She'd come away from a broken home

Had lots of strange affairs

With men in every walk of life who

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 drilling 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 nothin could ever come between Lily and the king

No nothing ever could 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'd 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 buried it away

"Has your luck run out" she laughed at him

"I guess you must've 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

And 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 goin' on

I know I can just feel it in the air"

He went to get the hangin' judge

But the hangin' judge was drunk

And the leading actor hurried by

In the costume of a monk

But there was no actor anywhere

Better than the Jack of Hearts

Lily had her arms around the man

That she dearly loved to touch

She forgot all about the man she hated

Who hounded her so much

"I've missed you so" she said to

Him and he thought she was sincere

But in the hallway he felt jealousy and fear

Just another night in the life of the Jack of Hearts

Well no one knew the circumstance

But they say it happened pretty quick

The door to the dressing room

Burst open and a cold revolver clicked

And Big Jim was standin' there

You 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 and the boys finally

Made it through the wall

Cleaned out the bank safe it's said

That they got off with quite a haul

And in the darkness of 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

Well the next day was hangin' day

And the sky was overcast and black

Big Jim lay covered up killed by a

Penknife in the back

And Rosemary on the gallows boy

She didn't even blink

And the hangin' judge was sober

Lord he hadn't had a drink

And the only person on the scene

Missing was the Jack of Hearts

Well the cabaret was quiet now and

A sign said 'Closed for repair'

Lily had already taken all of the

Dye out of her hair

She was thinkin' 'bout her father

Whom she very rarely saw

Thinkin' about Rosemary and

Thinkin' about the law

But most of all she was thinkin' about

The Jack of Hearts