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 with 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'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 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 cold 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 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 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
