Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts

Everyone has missed what seems obvious.

First of all, the Jack of Hearts does not get killed; Rosemary saves him by killing Big Jim, the husband she despises, with a pen knife. She chooses to do "one good deed before she died" and consigns herself to the gallows.

Secondly, Rosemary is Lily's...wait for it...mother! Why do you think Dylan wrote the lyrics of the final verse like so: "She was thinking about her father who she very rarely saw / Thinking about Rosemary, and thinking about the law..."

Rosemary "had done a lot of bad things," including having a child out of wedlock. What makes the story so sordid and even more Shakespearean is that Rosemary's unfaithful husband is having a dalliance with her daughter.

Nobody writes a song like Bob Dylan.

I have found a lot more meaning out of Bob Dylan than I ever did from my Freshman English class. I'm not trying to start an argument, but I just don't see how anyone can claim that Bob Dylan doesn't use "complicated symbolism," much less imply that Bob Dylan isn't deep, "I don't see why it has to be something deep. Bob Dylan isn't some knid of prophet or great philosopher..." It could be that people read too much into songs, I agree with that (Mr. Tambourine Man), but why tell people their 'theories are wrong and there's no hidden meaning to the song, it's just a story?' Because that's what it seems like you're trying to do. If I, and other people, can get a deep and profound meaning from a song, more power to us, I say. I realize that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I just don't agree with those who think there's not any complicated symbolism in Bob Dylan's songs. Listen to Shelter from the Storm, or Desolation Row, or the obviously symbolic Maggie's Farm.

Now, on to Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts...I could disect and divide this song into standard archetypes but, as we all know (and contrary to what my Freshman English teacher tried to teach me) not everything is answered by archetypes. All I can say is that I've noticed that every guy I've talked to has thought of himself as the Jack of Hearts (but who really wants to be Big Jim?). Most of the women I've talked to didn't see themselves as Lily or Rosemary. Just an observation, draw your own conclusions.

I think this song is being analysed a tad too much. This three-personality thing is silly; it robs all the characters of personal identity and role within the plot. If Lily and Rosemary are one person, why would Rosemary be taking "a carriage into town" while Lily is already there "playing five-card stud by the stairs"? To the earlier post by bbbbb: Jack of Hearts could be (in my opinion, is) a semi-notorious out-law, maybe more so "down in Mexico" and his face may have been on "WANTED" posters in that country (as opposed to what Jim believes to be an innocent picture "up on somebody's shelf"). For this reason (i.e. that Jim doesn't completely recognise Jack [just YET anyway]) i don't believe that Jim and Jack were partners in crime, just related coz of the Lily situation. Which, reminds me.... Jack of Hearts doesn't die!! he's the good guy, the protagonist!! he was the "only person on the scene missin'"! This i believe for several reasons: The stanza where "lily takes her dress off" is Lily and Jack alone in a room. she says "i'm glad to see your still alive" hints at a previous meeting, maybe one where Jim briefly met/saw him and so vaguely remembers him earlier in the song. Now, "down the hallway footsteps were coming for the Jack of Hearts" could easily be Jim lookin for his wife, (probably finally realising where he'd seen "that face before", putting 2 and 2 together and so looking for Jack also) and Rosemary following Jim as she could be bitter at Lily for stealing her husband. Now, I think the "cold revolver" that clicked belonged to, not Jim, but Jack, as he is ahead of the game, expecting Jim to figure it out in his girl's absence and so Jim is left "standing there, ya couldn't say surprised" while a gun is pointed at his head. Now here is where it gets interesting.... as we know, Rosemary is mighty pissed and fed up with living. So does "the one good deed before she died" and that is stab Jim with a "penknife in the back" as a kinda sacrifice for Jack to get away as she knows she would lose out to Lily anyway. Rosemary "lookin' to the future, riding on the Jack of Hearts" means just simply riding on the hope of getting away with Jack, tho this is impossible and she knows it. So, Jim dead, Rosemary 'bout to be hanged, Jack getting away while Lily is left to think about everything and wait until the next time the Jack of Hearts shows his face again, maybe next time she'll leave with him.

Being on 'Blood on the Tracks', it may be reasonable to want to infer meaning into the song, but i think the songs tone acts to kinda split the album up as the rest of the album is painful, though my favourite Dylan album.

I don't really know if this has some kind of political or religious meaning behind it, just that its another example of how talented bob dylan is at telling stories.

This might be way off but i always just thought that Rosemary took out the bullets of Jim's gun because it was a "cold revolver", meaning it wasn't hot and loaded. I've never seen the Jack of Hearts as dying in the end nor Lily dressing like Rosemary but since the "lily had already taken all the dye out of her hair" line always confused me, that could work. I could very well be wrong.

The genius of Dylan strikes again. Straight song about love, crime, deceit and guilt played out in the old west. The genius? Told in such a way as to enable the listener to add their own, nearly limitless interpretations.

I rarely broadcast my personal lyrical analysis but, upon reading some of these interpretations, I simply don't want open-minded people subjected to them. I don't believe in belittling people for their specific views and beliefs (whatever they may be) and, in fact, some of you have made extremely thought-provoking points, but I'm sure the answer lies somewhere deep within the large spectrum of them.

Some say it's a split-personality, others say it's symbolic, and a few even go so far as to claim there's nothing to it, other than the cryptic story it tells... I'd say the last of the three is probably the most valid, though I wouldn't doubt for a second that the characters symbolize one thing or another. That's not what I'm interested in... first of all, I think the double (or triple) personality theory is senseless. First of all, all characters are introduced at separate times in separate physical locations in the story and, most importantly, have significantly different outcomes. Rosemary is killed, the Jack of Hearts starts a new life, and Lilly is left to think about Jack, instead of her "lover" Jim.

The Jack of Hearts does not die, Dylan even states he's "missing from the scene" but has no problem locating dead-Jim with a knife in his back. It is Jack who "passed by in the costume of a monk" after talking to Lilly in the dressing room-- this is why Dylan tells us "there was no actor better" than him. Lilly talks about Jack's luck running out, likely due to Jim's suspicion... she helps dress him up in a costume and he sneaks out the back door. The climax scene does not in fact contain the Jack of Hearts, he is only mentioned when Rosemary is "leaning towards" him... which brings me to my last real point: the whole entire story is a love triangle or, more appropriately, a web of infidelity and misguided passion. Lilly has a fling with Jim but loves Jack; Rosemary loves Jim but knows he's untrue and would rather do away with him than see him with another woman (she is also eying Jack as a possible substitute, as hinted at in the "leaning toward the Jack of Hearts" line); Jack doesn't love Lily, which is why he leaves town without bringing her with him. We know he's gone because it's implied that he doesn't meet up to collect the money from his co-conspirators who are waiting for him.

Like I said before, each character may symbolize something in an allegorical sense, like greed or truth or corruption, but there is no doubt in my mind that this is how the story ultimately played out-- the only reason for this long-winded analysis was that no one seemed to see it this way. Obviously, if you don't agree, that's completely fine... that's the beauty of art. It affects people in different ways and there's truly no real "answer" as to what anything means... I just wanted to share my opinion in the event that someone is semi-enlightened or rethinks their interpretation.

Lily is the Jack of Hearts. "I know I've seen that face somewhere, Big Jim was thinking to himself" "Lily took her dress off and buried it away" - Changing into Jack And the final verse: "Lily had already taken all of the dye out of her hair" - Why was her hair dyed? "She was thinking about her father, whom she very rarely saw Thinking about Rosemary and thinking about the law But most of all she was thinking about the Jack of Hearts" - Because she is the Jack of Hearts! She had "Strange affairs with men from every walk of life which took her everywhere" - She's worldly and creates Jack out of a conglomeration of her father and all the men she knew. The song's about women taking control of their lives by any means necessary.

What festival was over? What kind of a fall were the boys planning' for? A windfall? Why was there a curfew? Why on earth would the gambling wheel be shut down? There must have been some kind of trouble, but apparently the dust was settling down, because the curfew had been lifted.....The streets were filling' up outside...in anticipation of the show, I guess. The showgirls were passing time, playing cards to pass the time....Lilly had two queens, and was hoping for a third...two queens is a very good hand in 5 card stud....but maybe someone else showed 2 Kings, and she needed that third....The jack of Hearts seems to be a mannerly man, as one might expect form a conman, rather nondescript, since no one paid him much mind when he entered. When Big Jim sees him, Big Jim being a man who notices details, he recognizes him.....maybe a picture on someone's shelf....(Lilly's shelf?)....Bob Dylan has said he never forgets a face. Jack's boys are drilling' through the wall to reach the bank safe, maybe that's why there is a fresh coat of paint....someone patched up their entrance point and painted it so as not to rouse suspicion or point the finger at Lilly who may have helped them by letting them start in her room. Lilly comes form a broken home...someone suggests that Rosemary is her mother...could Rosemary have left her daughter behind to marry Big Jim...is that why she is suicidal? Her guilt in abandoning Lilly who has lived a promiscuous life, and may now be a prostitute, as showgirls in the Old West often were? The house lights dim, but only Jim and Jack are left alone in the room...how is that possible, if the theatre is filled? They must be backstage in a separate room.....both intimates of cast members.....a pen knife is a tiny knife...difficult to kill a big man with....What show has a lead actor as a monk? Romeo and Juliet? The Friar is a main character.....Shakespeare was very popular in the Old West...snippets of the bard mixed with other entertainment......Rosemary rode a carriage into town...from where? Jim's house, I guess...she must have been well taken care of in order to have enough for a carriage.....Dylan's wife, sara lost her father to murder when she was 17 or 18..."She was thinking' about her father, who she very rarely saw.....was Big Jim her father? Kinda weird that someone is hanged the day after a murder...when was the trial? Is Dylan the Jack of Hearts? The non-descript guy who has a special magnetism for women, and who leads a gang of boys (the band) who wait not he ground by the riverbed and can't go anywhere without him? Did Jim get the drop on Jack when the Colt revolver clicked? Is that why Rosemary felt obligated to do Jim in? Is it all just a dream? Has Bob invaded our dreamscape again? Bob's uncle owned a movie theatre or three in hibbing, and Bob watched a lot of flicks.....our dreamscape.....hence his acuteness at re-inventing character voices in his songs.....This is his masterpiece, more clever even than Sad Eyed Lady, Desolation Row, Subterranean, My Back Pages, A hard Rain, or dozens of other candidates.....no one else has ever approached this kind of complexity...not even Joey Dugan.

The song tells a pretty straightforward story, but it contains an important theme about fate. Each of the main characters are referred to as specific cards. The hero if the “jack of hearts,” Jim is referred to as “the king” and owns a diamond mine, and Rosemary is a “queen,” Lily is a “princess,” but the women appear to be represented by “two queens.” Significantly, as the Jack of Hearts is drawn by Lily, this character arrives. In the broader context of the song, the hand of cards that is drawn (King, two queens, Jack) sets in motion a chain of events that leads to death and betrayal.

Each character has a backstory. The Jack of Hearts is very charismatic, but also has a history. He is the leader of an outlaw gang that is too loyal to leave without him, even once they have the loot. Big Jim recognizes him and is bothered that he can’t place his face. “. . . 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" “

It’s clear from the lyrics that Lily and the Jack have been lovers in the past. She has a long history as a kept woman. “She'd come away from a broken home, had lots of strange affairs. With men in every walk of life which took her everywhere.” She is now Jim’s mistress, having changed her appearance – she’s dyed her hair a new color. We know that Lily and the Jack have had a previous relationship, because we find them in her dressing room after the show. As she’s undressing, she tells him: "Has your luck run out? . . . Well, I guess you must have known it would someday. . . I'm glad to see you're still alive, you're lookin' like a saint"

She also appears to rebuff his initial advances, saying: “Be careful not to touch the wall, there's a brand-new coat of paint.” This odd line refers to the fact that she has a new life and a changed appearance, including her new hair color.

Some versions of this song include Dylan’s lyrics: 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.

This addition makes it clear that Lily has had a past affair with the Jack, has missed him, and is holding him when Jim opens the door with his revolver in hand. Rosemary’s backstory is that she hates her husband, has already considered suicide, and is primed to do one last good deed before she dies. She also is attracted to the Jack of Hearts. When the door opens, “. . . Big Jim was standin' there . . . Rosemary right beside him, steady in her eyes. She was with Big Jim but she was leanin' to the Jack of Hearts.” She suddenly switches sides and kills her husband with a penknife before he can shoot the Jack.

The song ends with Big Jim in the morgue, Rosemary being hung for his murder and Lily washing the dye out of her hair, thus changing back to her natural appearance, and apparently preparing to reinvent herself again. Where is the Jack? We are told that “The only person on the scene missin' was the Jack of Hearts.” Significantly, Big Jim is not described as missing. We are told that “Big Jim lay covered up, killed by a penknife in the back.” Since the Jack is not laying dead somewhere in town, presumably he and his gang have gotten away with the money, leaving Lily on her own, Jim dead, and Rosemary about to hang.