Verse
/ A
The / festival was over, and
/ D / A
The / boys were all plannin' for a / fall.
/ A
The / cabaret was quiet,
/ D / A
Ex - / cept for the drillin' in the / wall.
/ D - A
The / curfew had been lifted and
/ E - A
The / gamblin' wheel shut down,
D - A
Anyone with any sense,
/ E - E
Had / a - ready left town.
/ A
He was / standin' in the doorway
D - E / A / /
Lookin' like the Jack of Hear - / arts. / /
Verse 2
/ A
He / moved across the mirrored room,
/ D / A
"Set em up for everyone," he / said,
/ A
Then / everyone commenced to do,
/ D /
What / they'd been doin',
/ D - / A
Be - fore he moved their / heads.
/ D - A
Then he / walked up to a stranger, and
/ E - A
He / asked him with a grin,
/ D - A
"Could you / kindly tell me, mister,
/E E
What / time the show be - gins?"
/ A
He / moved into the corner,
D - E / A / /
Face down like the Jack of Hear - / arts
Verse 3
/ A
Back - stage the girls were playin'
/D / A
Five-card stud by the / stairs,
/ A
Lily had two queens,
/ D / A
She was / hopin' for a third,
/ D /A
To match her / pair.
/ D - A
Out - / side the streets were fillin' up, and
/E - A
E / window was open wide,
/ D - A
E / gentle breeze was blowin',
E E
You could / feel it from in - side.
/ A
Lily called a - nother bet, and
D - E / A / /
Drew up the Jack of Hear - / arts.
Verse 4
/ A
Big Jim was no one's fool,
/ D / A
He owned the town's only diamond / mine,
/ A
He / made his usual entrance,
/ D / A
Lookin' all so dandy and so / fine.
/ D - A
With his / bodyguards and silver cane, and
/ E - A
Every hair in place,
/D - A
He / took whatever he wanted to, and
/ E - E
He / laid it all to waste,.
/ A
But his / bodyguards and his silver cane,
D - E / A / /
They were / no match for the Jack of Hear - / arts
Verse 5
/ A
Rose - / mary co - ombed her hair, and
/ D / A
Took the carriage into / town,
/ A
She / slipped into the side door,
/ D / A
Lookin' like a queen without a / crown.
/ D - A
She / fluttered her false eyelashes and
/ E - A
Whispered in his ear,
/D - A
"I'm / sorry, darlin', that I'm late,"
/ E - E
But he / didn't seem to hear.
/ A
He was / starin' into space,
D - E / A / /
Over at the Jack of Hear - / arts.
Verse 6
/ A
"Well I / know I've seen that face somewhere,"
/ D / A
Big Jim was thinkin' to him - / self,
/ A
"Maybe down in Mexico or
/ D / A
E / picture up - on some - body's / shelf."
/ D - A
But then the / crowd began to stamp their feet, and
/ E - A
The / house lights did dim, and
D - A
In the darkness of the room,
/ E - E
There was / only Jim and him,
/ A
Starin' at the butterfly,
D - E / A / /
Who / just up drew up the Jack of Hear - / arts
Verse 7
/ A
Lily was a princess,
/ D / A
She was / fair-skinned and precious as a / child,
/ A
She / had that certain something
/ D /
Was a kind of a flash,,
/ A
Every time she / smiled.
/ D - A
She'd / come away from a broken home,
/E - A
Had / lots of strange af - fairs,
/ D - A
With / men in every walk of life,
/E E
Who / took her every - where.
/ A
But she'd / never met any - one
D - E / A / /
Quite like the Jack of Hear - / arts.
Verse 8
/ A /D
The / hangin' judge came in un - / noticed, and
/D / A
Was being wined and / dined,
/ A
The / drillin' in the wall kept up,
/ D / A
But / no one seemed to pay it any / mind.
/ D - A
It was / known all a - round,
/ E - A
That / Lily had Jim's ring, and
D - A
Nothing would ever come,
/ E - E
Between / Lily and the king.
/ A
No, / nothin' ever could,
D - E / A / /
Ex - / cept maybe the Jack of Hear - / arts.
Verse 9
/ A
Rosemary started drinkin' hard and
/ D / A
Seein' her re - flection in the / knife,
/ A
She was / tired of the at - tention,
/ D / A
Tired of playin' the role of Big Jim's / wife.
/ D - A
She had / done a lot of bad things,
/ E - A
Even / once tried sui - cide,
/D - /E
Was / lookin' to do just one good / deed
- E
Before she died.
/ A
She was / gazin' to the future,
D - E / A / /
Riding on the Jack of Hear - / arts
Verse 10
/ A
Lily took her dress off,
/ D / A
Buried it a - / way.
/ A
"Has your / luck run out?" she laughed at him,
/ D / A
"I / guess you must have known it would some - / day.
/D A
Be/careful not to touch the wall’
/ E A
There’s a /brand-new coat of paint,
/D - A
I'm / glad to see you're still alive, and
/ E - E
You're / lookin' like a saint."
/ A
Down the hallway footsteps
/D - E / A / /
Were / comin' for the Jack of Hear - / arts
Verse 11
/ A /D
The / Backstage manager was / pacin',
/ D / A
All a - round by his / chair.
/ A
"There's / somethin' funny going on,
/ D / A
" I / know, I can just feel it in the / air."
/ D - A
He / went to get the hangin' judge,
/ E - A
But the / hangin' judge was drunk, and
/D - A
The / leading actor hurried by
/ E - E
In the / costume of a monk.
/ A
But there was no / actor any - where,
D - E / A / /
Better than the Jack of Hear - / arts.
Verse 12
/ A /D
Lili had her arms a - round the / man
/ D / A
She dearly loved to / touch,
/ A
She for - / got all a - bout the man,
/ D / A
She / hated who hounded her so / much,
/ D - A
I / missed you so she said to him, and
/ E - A
He / thought she was sincere
/D - A
But / in the hallway he fou - ound
/ E - E
Jealousy and fear
/ A
Just another night in the /
D - E / A / /
life of the Jack of Hear - / arts
Verse 13
/ A
No one knew the circumstance
/ D / A
But / they say that it happened pretty / quick,
/ A /D
The / door to the dressing room burst / open and
/ D / A
E cold revolver / clicked, and
/ D - A
Big Jim was standin' there,
/ E - A
You / couldn't say sur - prised,
/D - A
Rose - / mary right be - side him,
/E - E
Steady in her eyes.
/ A
She was / with Big Jim,
D - /E / A / /
But she was / leanin' to the Jack of Hear - / arts
Verse 14
/ A
Two doors down and the / boys,
/ D / A
Finally made it through the / wall, and
/ A
They / cleaned out the bank safe,
/ D / A
Said they got off with quite a / haul, and
/ D - A
In the / darkness of the riverbed,
/ E - A
They / waited on the ground,
/D - A
For / one more member,
/ E - E
Who had / business back in town.
/ A
But they / couldn't go no further,
D - E / A / /
With - out the Jack of Hear - / arts.
Verse 15
/ A
Well the / next day was hangin' day,
/ D / A
The / sky was overcast and / black,
/ A
Big Jim lay covered up,
/ D / A
Killed by a penknife in the / back, and
/ D - A
Rose - / mary on the gallows,
/ E - A
Lord she / didn't even blink,
/D - A
The / hangin' judge was sober,
/ E - E
Lord, he / hadn't had a drink and,
/ A
The / only person on the scene
D - E / A / /
Missing was the Jack of Hear - / arts
Verse 16
/ A
Well the / cabaret was quiet now, and
/ D / A
E / sign said, "Closed for re - / pair,"
/ A
Lily had already taken / all of the dye
/ D / A
Out of her / hair.
/ D - A
She was / thinkin' about her father,
/ E - A
Who she / very rarely saw,
D - A
Thinkin' about Rosemary, and
/E - E
Thinkin' about the law.
/ A /D
But, / most of a - all she was / thinkin'
- E / A / /
About the Jack of Hear - / arts.