>

>> And they like to sing a lot about cheatin' and sinnin' and
>> dysfucntional relationships, over simple cliche chord progressions,
>> JUST LIKE YOU DO BOB!
>>
>> KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK! KEEP ON PROMOTIN' THAT DYSFUNCTION BOB! HAVE
>> ANOTHER DRINK OF FREEMASON LIQUOR BOB. MAYBE YOU CAN DO A RADIO SHOW
>> ABOUT HOW GREAT FREEMASON LIQUOR IS. HOW ABOUT ONE GLORIFYING
>> GAMBLING, GANGSTERS, MURDERERS AND CASINOS TOO.
>>

> The festival was over, the boys were all plannin' 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.
>
> He moved across the mirrored room, "Set it up for everyone," he said,
> Then everyone commenced to 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> "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,
> Starin' 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, she had that certain 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 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 nothing would ever come between Lily and the king.
> No, nothin' ever would except 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," 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.
>
> Lily's arms were locked around the man that she dearly loved to touch,
> She forgot all about the man she couldn't stand 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, ya 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 the boys finally made it through the wall
> And 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> -Rev Carter