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Lily (, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts)

tobocman@aol.com (Tobocman):
For years I have been trying to decipher the plot to Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts. Here's what I have so far:
3 guys rob a cabaret in the old west--they drill into the wall and blow the safe three doors down from the backstage dressing room. One of the robbers (the Jack of Hearts) is an old flame of Lily, who is the girlfriend of diamond mine owner Big Jim, who's also married to Rosemary.

This gets a little sketchy:

No one knows 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 standing there you couldn't say surprised
Rosemary right beside him, steadyin' her eyes
My guess is that Lily and the Jack of Hearts are making love in the dressing room when Big Jim and Rosemary burst in on them (2 stanzas previous is their reunion, where Lily takes her dress off, and tells the Jack he's "looking like a saint"). 


The next day was hanging day, the sky was overcast and black
Big Jim lay covered up, killed by a penknife in the back
Rosemary on the gallows, she didn't even blink......
Apparently, Big Jim shoots the Jack in a fit of jealous rage but his gun misfires. Rosemary sees that Big Jim has been cheating on her, and she stabs him with her lady's penknife.

Here's where I'm stuck:

Lily had already taken all of the dye out of her hair
Is this a red herring? (a false clue). I used to think that Lily had been impersonating Rosemary, but the dye could be for her cabaret gig. She's a showgirl isn't she? Is she a decoy to detract our attention from the mysterious Jack of Hearts as he and his gang quietly escape?

ez006050@dale.ucdavis.edu (Wade Greiner):
I've always thought from the "Rosemary Started drinkin'..." stanza (she "was lookin' to do just one good deed before she died") that Rosemary took the bullets out of Jim's gun (so that his "cold revolver *clicked*" instead of going bang :-) and planned to kill him when he tried to kl Jack (she earlier saw her reflection in the knife, foreshadowing the killing). 
>Here's where I'm stuck:
>
>>Lily had already taken all of the dye out of her hair
>
>Is this a red herring? (a false clue).  I used to think that Lily had been
>impersonating Rosemary, but the dye could be for her cabaret gig.  She's a
>showgirl isn't she?  Is she a decoy to detract our attention from the
>mysterious Jack of Hearts as he and his gang quietly escape?
>
Well, it says the cabaret is empty a sign saying "closed for repairs." I assume Lily's career as a showgirl is put on hold for a while. So she takes the dye out of her hair, and starts thinking of other things like her father, Rosemary and the law (more serious stuff than she probably normally deals with). The death of Jim and the end of the caberet has freed Lily to an extent. I don't think it is meant to mean that she impersonated Rosemary. There is no reason to think they look that much alike. :-) Also, though it doesn't really say so, I always figured that Lily and Rosemary were *both* present when Jim tried to kill Jack. I think Jack had already escaped. That is indicated, I think, by the fact that the only person missing from the scene was the Jack of Hearts. I think the last stanza is discussing the aftermath of the adventure and it's affect on Lily.

Date: Tue, 04 Dec 2001 11:19:34 EST From: TVerducci@aol.com Subject: Lily, Rosemary & JoH Comment To: webmaster@expectingrain.com Heya there :) I was just thinking that I should finally look up the whole deal behind that song, being one of my favs, and among the sites that came up was yours. You say, "My guess is that Lily and the Jack of Hearts are making love in the dressing room when Big Jim and Rosemary burst in on them (2 stanzas previous is their reunion, where Lily takes her dress off, and tells the Jack he's "looking like a saint"). It makes a TON more sense if you consider a verse that was sung in New York before the album Blood on the Tracks was released with the "Official Version." This one is right before where Big Jim bursts in. My own take is that he cocked his pistol and then Rosemary stabbed him in the back. I guess we should ask Bob :) >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. Hope it's of interest! Vyncent
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