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Credits
PERFORMING ARTISTS
Bob Dylan
Vocals
Billy Peterson
Bass
Bill Berg
Drums
Chris Weber
Acoustic Guitar
Gregg Inhofer
Hammond Organ
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Bob Dylan
Songwriter
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
Phil Ramone
Engineer
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
The festival was over and the boys were all planning 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
[Verse 2]
He moved across the mirrored room
"Set it up for everyone," he said
Then everyone commenced the 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
[Verse 3]
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
[Verse 4]
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
[Verse 5]
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
[Verse 6]
"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 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
[Verse 7]
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 had 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
[Verse 8]
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 nothin' would ever come between Lily and the king
No, nothin' ever would, except maybe the Jack of Hearts
[Verse 9]
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
[Verse 10]
Lily took her dress off
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
[Verse 11]
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
[Verse 12]
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
[Verse 13]
Two doors down
The boys finally made it through the wall
And cleaned out the bank safe
It's said 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
For they couldn't go no further without the Jack of Hearts
[Verse 14]
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
[Verse 15]
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
Written by: Bob Dylan