Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts lyrics

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 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 houselights 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 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,” 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

Lily’s arms were locked around the man that she dearly loved to touch

She forgot all about the man she couldn’t stand 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, 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

• Artist:Bob Dylan
• Album:Blood on the Tracks (1975)