Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts (Album Version)

Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts - Bob Dylan

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 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 playing five card stud by the stairs

Lily had two queens she was hoping for a third to match her pair

Outside the streets were filling up the window was open wide

A gentle breeze was blowing 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 looking 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 looking like a queen without a crown

She fluttered her false eyelashes and whispered in his ear

"Sorry darling that I'm late" but he didn't seem to hear

He was staring into space over at the Jack of Hearts

"I know I've seen that face somewhere" Big Jim was thinking 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

Staring 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'd 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 hanging 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 nothing would ever come between Lily and the king

No nothing ever would except maybe the Jack of Hearts

Rosemary started drinking hard and seeing her reflection in the knife

She was tired of the attention tired of playing the role of Big Jim's wife

She had done a lot of bad things even once tried suicide

Was looking to do just one good deed before she died

She was gazing 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 looking like a saint"

Down the hallway footsteps were coming 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 hanging judge but the hanging 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 it happened pretty quick

The door to the dressing room burst open a Colt revolver clicked

And big Jim was standing there you couldn't say surprised

Rosemary right beside him studying her eyes

She was with big Jim but she was leaning 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 that 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 hanging 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 hanging judge was sober he hadn't had a drink

The only person on the scene missing 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 thinking about her father who she very rarely saw

Thinking about Rosemary and thinking about the law

But most of all she was thinking about the Jack of Hearts