Joan Baez - Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts - Live Lyrics

Lyrics Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts - Live - Joan Baez



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 âem 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 âcept 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.



Writer(s): Bob Dylan


Joan Baez - The Complete A&M Recordings
Album The Complete A&M Recordings
date of release
23-09-2003

1 Blessed Are - Live
2 Love Song to a Stranger, Pt. 2 (Live)
3 Windrose
4 Prison Trilogy (Billy Rose)
5 Rainbow Road
6 Love Song to a Stranger
7 Myths
8 In The Quiet Morning (For Janis Joplin)
9 Weary Mothers
10 To Bobby
11 Song of Bangladesh
12 A Stranger In My Place
13 Tumbleweed
14 The Partisan
15 Imagine
16 Where Are You Now, My Son?
17 Only Heaven Knows (Ah, the Sad Wind Blows)
18 Less Than The Song
19 A Young Gypsy
20 Mary Call
21 Rider, Pass By
22 Best of Friends
23 Gracias a la Vida (Here's to Life)
24 Llego Con Tres Heridas (I Come With Three Wounds)
25 La Llorona (The Weeping Woman)
26 El Preso Numero Nueve (Prisoner Number Nine)
27 Guantanamera
28 Te Recuerdo Amanda (I Remember Amanda)
29 Cu-Cu-Rru-Cu-Cu Paloma
30 Paso Rio (I Pass a River)
31 El Rossinyol (The Nightingale)
32 De Colores (In Colors)
33 Las Madres Cansadas (All the Weary Mothers of the Earth)
34 No Nos Moveran (We Shall Not Be Moved)
35 Esquinazo del Guerrillero (The Guerilla's Serenade)
36 Johnny, I Hardly Knew Yeh
37 Where's My Apple Pie?
38 Forever Young
39 Diamonds and Rust
40 Fountain of Sorrow
41 Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer
42 Children And All That Jazz
43 Simple Twist of Fate
44 Blue Sky
45 Hello in There
46 Jesse
47 Winds Of The Old Days
48 I Dream of Jeannie / Danny Boy
49 Sweeter for Me
50 Seabirds
51 Caruso
52 Still Waters at Night
53 O Brother!
54 Time Is Passing Us By
55 Stephanie's Room
56 Gulf Winds
57 (Ain't Gonna Let Nobody) Turn Me Around - Live
58 Suzanne - Live
59 I Shall Be Released - Live
60 Blowin' In The Wind - Live
61 Stewball (Live)
62 Natalia - Live
63 The Ballad of Sacco and Vanzetti (Live)
64 Joe Hill - Live
65 Love Is Just A Four Letter Word - Live
66 Forever Young (Live)
67 Diamonds And Rust - Live
68 Boulder To Birmingham - Live
69 Swing Low, Sweet Chariot - Live
70 Oh Happy Day (Live)
71 Please Come to Boston (Live)
72 Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts - Live
73 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - Live
74 Amazing Grace (Live)




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