Lilly Rosemary and The Jack Of Hearts
by Bob Dylan
/
The / festival was over, and
/ /
The / boys were all plannin' for a / fall.
/
The / cabaret was quiet,
/ /
Ex - / cept for the drillin' in the / wall.
/ -
The / curfew had been lifted and
/ -
The / gamblin' wheel shut down,
-
Anyone with any sense,
/ -
Had / a - ready left town.
/
He was / standin' in the doorway
- / / /
Lookin' like the Jack of Hear - / arts. / /
/
He / moved across the mirrored room,
/ /
"Set em up for everyone," he / said,
/
Then / everyone commenced to do,
/ /
What / they'd been doin',
/ - /
Be - fore he moved their / heads.
/ -
Then he / walked up to a stranger, and
/ -
He / asked him with a grin,
/ -
"Could you / kindly tell me, mister,
/
What / time the show be - gins?"
/
He / moved into the corner,
- / / /
Face down like the Jack of Hear - / arts
/
Back - stage the girls were playin'
/ /
Five-card stud by the / stairs,
/
Lily had two queens,
/ /
She was / hopin' for a third,
/ /
To match her / pair.
/ -
Out - / side the streets were fillin' up, and
/ -
/ window was open wide,
/ -
/ gentle breeze was blowin',
You could / feel it from in - side.
/
Lily called a - nother bet, and
- / / /
Drew up the Jack of Hear - / arts.
/
Big Jim was no one's fool,
/ /
He owned the town's only diamond / mine,
/
He / made his usual entrance,
/ /
Lookin' all 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 his silver cane,
- / / /
They were / no match for the Jack of Hear - / arts
/
Rose - / mary co - ombed her hair, and
/ /
Took the carriage into / town,
/
She / slipped into 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 / starin' into space,
- / / /
Over at the Jack of Hear - / arts.
/
"Well I / know I've seen that face somewhere,"
/ /
Big Jim was thinkin' to him - / self,
/
"Maybe down in Mexico or
/ /
/ picture up - on some - body'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 up drew up the Jack of Hear - / arts
/
Lily was a princess,
/ /
She was / fair-skinned and precious as a / child,
/
She / had that certain something
/ /
Was a kind of a flash,,
/
Every time she / smiled.
/ -
She'd / come away from a broken home,
/ -
Had / lots of strange af - fairs,
/ -
With / men in every walk of life,
/
Who / took her every - where.
/
But she'd / never met any - one
- / / /
Quite like the Jack of Hear - / arts.
/ /
The / hangin' judge came in un - / noticed, 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 a - round,
/ -
That / Lily had Jim's ring, and
-
Nothing would ever come,
/ -
Between / Lily and the king.
/
No, / nothin' ever could,
- / / /
Ex - / cept maybe the Jack of Hear - / arts.
/
Rosemary started drinkin' hard and
/ /
Seein' her re - flection in the / knife,
/
She was / tired of the at - tention,
/ /
Tired of playin' the role of Big Jim's / wife.
/ -
She had / done a lot of bad things,
/ -
Even / once tried sui - cide,
/ - /
Was / lookin' to do just one good / deed
-
Before she died.
/
She was / gazin' to the future,
- / / /
Riding on the Jack of Hear - / arts
/
Lily took her dress off,
/ /
Buried it a - / way.
/
"Has your / luck run out?" she laughed at him,
/ /
"I / guess you must have known it would some - / day.
/
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 Hear - / arts
/ /
The / Backstage manager was / pacin',
/ /
All a - round by his / chair.
/
"There's / somethin' 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.
/
But there was no / actor any - where,
- / / /
Better than the Jack of Hear - / arts.
/ /
Lili had her arms a - round the / man
/ /
She dearly loved to / touch,
/
She for - / got all a - bout the man,
/ /
She / hated who hounded her so / much,
/ -
I / missed you so she said to him, and
/ -
He / thought she was sincere
/ -
But / in the hallway he fou - ound
/ -
Jealousy and fear
/
Just another night in the /
- / / /
life of the Jack of Hear - / arts
/
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 sur - prised,
/ -
Rose - / mary right be - side him,
/ -
Steady in her eyes.
/
She was / with Big Jim,
- / / / /
But she was / leanin' to the Jack of Hear - / arts
/
Two doors down and the / boys,
/ /
Finally made it through the / wall, and
/
They / cleaned out the bank safe,
/ /
Said 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,
- / / /
With - out the Jack of Hear - / arts.
/
Well 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
/ -
Rose - / mary on the gallows,
/ -
Lord she / didn't even blink,
/ -
The / hangin' judge was sober,
/ -
Lord, he / hadn't had a drink and,
/
The / only person on the scene
- / / /
Missing was the Jack of Hear - / arts
/
Well the / cabaret was quiet now, and
/ /
/ sign said, "Closed for re - / pair,"
/
Lily had already taken / all of the dye
/ /
Out of her / hair.
/ -
She was / thinkin' about her father,
/ -
Who she / very rarely saw,
-
Thinkin' about Rosemary, and
/ -
Thinkin' about the law.
/ /
But, / most of a - all she was / thinkin'
- / / /
About the Jack of Hear - / arts.
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