| A | |
| The / fes | tival was over, and |
| D | A | |
| The / bo | ys were all plannin' for a / fall. |
| A | |
| The / ca | baret was quiet, |
| D | A | |
| Ex - / ce | pt for the drillin' in the / wall. |
| D | - | A | |
| The / cu | rfew had b | een lifted and |
| E | - | A | |
| The / ga | mblin' wheel | shut down, |
| D | - | A | |
| Anyone wit | h any sen | se, |
| Bm | - | E | |
| Had / a - | ready | left town | . |
| A | |
| He was / stand | in' in the doorway |
| D | - | E | A | |
| Lookin' lik | e 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 |
| A / window was open wide, |
| A / 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 |
| A / 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 |
| A / 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. |