Joan Baez - Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts lyrics

The festival was over
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 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 moved 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 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 lookin' oh
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 staring into space over
At the Jack of Hearts

I know I've seen that face before
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
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
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 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 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' would ever come between
Lily and the king
No, nothing 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 washed her face
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, 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
There was no actor anywhere better
Than the Jack of Hearts

Lily's 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 felt she was sincere
But just beyond the door he
Felt jealousy and fear
Just another night in the life
Of 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 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
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

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
The hangin' judge was sober, Lord
He hadn't had a drink
The only person on the scene missing
Was the Jack of Hearts

The cabaret was quiet 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' about Rosemary and thinkin'
About the law
But, most of all she was thinkin'
About the Jack of Hearts