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[Verse] 1
    D                      G                            D
The festival was over, the boys were all plannin’ for a fall
    D                   G                            D
The cabaret was quiet except for the drillin’ in the wall
    G               D              A                   D
The curfew had been lifted and the gamblin’ wheel shut down
G           D             A
Anyone with any sense had already left town
       D               D/C#    G/B              A7             D
He was standin’ in the doorway lookin’ like the Jack of Hearts

[Verse] 2
   D                                G                           D
He moved across the mirrored room, “Set it up for everyone,” he said
     D                             G                                      D
Then everyone commenced to do what they were doin’ before he turned their heads
        G              D               A                D
Then he walked up to a stranger and he asked him with a grin
           G               D            A
“Could you kindly tell me, friend, what time the show begins?”
        D              D/C#    G/B                A7             D
Then he moved into the corner, face down like the Jack of Hearts

[Verse] 3
D                                G                     D
Backstage the girls were playin’ five-card stud by the stairs
D                            G                               D
Lily had two queens, she was hopin’ for a third to match her pair
    G                    D               A               D
Outside the streets were fillin’ up, the window was open wide
  G                 D                  A
A gentle breeze was blowin’, you could feel it from inside
D            D/C#           G/B         A7             D
Lily called another bet and drew up the Jack of Hearts

[Verse] 4
D                             G                             D
Big Jim was no one’s fool, he owned the town’s only diamond mine
   D                       G                       D
He made his usual entrance lookin’ so dandy and so fine
         G               D              A             D
With his bodyguards and silver cane and every hair in place
   G                D                A
He took whatever he wanted to and he laid it all to waste
        D              D/C#             G/B              A7             D
But his bodyguards and silver cane were no match for the Jack of Hearts

[Verse] 5
D                          G                      D
Rosemary combed her hair and took a carriage into town
    D                                G                              D
She slipped in through the side door lookin’ like a queen without a crown
    G                   D             A                D
She fluttered her false eyelashes and whispered in his ear
 G               D                      A
“Sorry, darlin’, that I’m late,” but he didn’t seem to hear
       D            D/C#  G/B         A7             D
He was starin’ into space over at the Jack of Hearts

[Verse] 6
   D                                 G                          D
“I know I’ve seen that face before,” Big Jim was thinkin’ to himself
 D                         G                        D
“Maybe down in Mexico or a picture up on somebody’s shelf”
             G              D                        A               D
But then the crowd began to stamp their feet and the houselights did dim
    G               D                     A
And in the darkness of the room there was only Jim and him
D              D/C#          G/B           A7             D
Starin’ at the butterfly who just drew the Jack of Hearts

[Verse] 7
D                            G                              D
Lily was a princess, she was fair-skinned and precious as a child
    D                               G                                     D
She did whatever she had to do, she had that certain flash every time she smiled
      G                D                A                 D
She’d come away from a broken home, had lots of strange affairs
     G            D                  A
With men in every walk of life which took her everywhere
          D         D/C#   G/B            A7             D
But she’d never met anyone quite like the Jack of Hearts

[Verse] 8
    D                      G                                D
The hangin’ judge came in unnoticed and was being wined and dined
    D                                G                           D
The drillin’ in the wall kept up but no one seemed to pay it any mind
       G          D               A         D
It was known all around that Lily had Jim’s ring
    G                  D            A
And nothing would ever come between Lily and the king
    D            D/C#    G/B            A7             D
No, nothin’ ever would except maybe the Jack of Hearts

[Verse] 9
D                                  G                            D
Rosemary started drinkin’ hard and seein’ her reflection in the knife
        D                       G                                      D
She was tired of the attention, tired of playin’ the role of Big Jim’s wife
        G             D                A             D
She had done a lot of bad things, even once tried suicide
    G                  D        A
Was lookin’ to do just one good deed before she died
        D             D/C#    G/B           A7             D
She was gazin’ to the future, riding on the Jack of Hearts

[Verse] 10
D                            G          D
Lily took her dress off ...  buried it away
          D                                           G                                      D
“Has your luck run out?” she laughed at him, “Well, I guess you must have known it would someday
   G              D                         A                 D
Be careful not to touch the wall, there’s a brand-new coat of paint
    G                  D                   A
I’m glad to see you’re still alive, you’re lookin’ like a saint”
D                D/C#           G/B            A7             D
Down the hallway footsteps were comin’ for the Jack of Hearts

[Verse] 11
    D                     G                        D
The backstage manager was pacing all around by his chair
         D                             G                                D
“There’s something funny going on,” he said, “I can just feel it in the air”
   G               D                      A                 D
He went to get the hangin’ judge, but the hangin’ judge was drunk
       G             D                 A
As the leading actor hurried by in the costume of a monk
          D        D/C#     G/B             A7             D
There was no actor anywhere better than the Jack of Hearts

[Verse] 12
D                                     G                           D
No one knew the circumstance but they say that it happened pretty quick
    D                               G                        D
The door to the dressing room burst open and a cold revolver clicked
    G            D                 A               D
And Big Jim was standin’ there, ya couldn’t say surprised
    G            D         A
Rosemary right beside him, steady in her eyes
        D        D/C#            G/B            A7             D
She was with Big Jim but she was leanin’ to the Jack of Hearts

[Verse] 13
D                       G                           D
Two doors down the boys finally made it through the wall
    D                               G                                   D
And cleaned out the bank safe, it’s said that they got off with quite a haul
       G               D             A             D
In the darkness by the riverbed they waited on the ground
    G        D              A
For one more member who had business back in town
         D              D/C#    G/B         A7             D
But they couldn’t go no further without the Jack of Hearts

[Verse] 14
    D                             G                    D
The next day was hangin’ day, the sky was overcast and black
D                       G                           D
Big Jim lay covered up, killed by a penknife in the back
        G           D            A           D
And Rosemary on the gallows, she didn’t even blink
    G                 D         A
The hangin’ judge was sober, he hadn’t had a drink
    D           D/C#         G/B             A7             D
The only person on the scene missin’ was the Jack of Hearts

[Verse] 15
    D                        G                        D
The cabaret was empty now, a sign said, “Closed for repair”
D                      G                         D
Lily had already taken all of the dye out of her hair
        G                  D               A           D
She was thinkin’ ’bout her father, who she very rarely saw
G                  D        A
Thinkin’ ’bout Rosemary and thinkin’ about the law
    D       D/C#        G/B                A7             D
But most of all she was thinkin’ ’bout the Jack of Hearts

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