Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse

Subject: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 09:40 AM

Hi, I was shocked, shocked not to find this one in the DT. But anyway, this is the long ballad that Dylan does on Blood on the Tracks. However, in some songbook somewhere sometime, I read the words and there was a verse that doesn't appear in Blood on the Tracks. Without my retyping all the lyrics here, it happens either right before or right after the verse that goes like this:

Lily took her dress off, buried it away
Has your luck run out? She laughed at him - Well, I guess you must have known it would some day
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 looking like a saint.
Down the hallway, footsteps were coming for the Jack of Hearts.

From the storyline and what I recall of the missing verse, I think it PRECEDES this one, and actually fills in a logical gap between what had just happened and Lily getting undressed.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: catspaw49
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 10:09 AM

Dylan's stuff is copy protected so a lot of it isn't in the DT. As th the verse you mention, I hadn't heard about it. The Bob Dylan Official Page (whooppee) shows nothing and the lyrics are the same I think at my favorite site for Dylan Lyrics.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: Peter T.
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 10:24 AM

The bootleg version (the New York session) has the verse you mention. The most comprehensive site I know is: here.
yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: catspaw49
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 10:47 AM

Hey PT.....That's a great site, but I can't find any additional info. Any chance you can copy this one out for us?

Or did I miss something? (Likely)

Spaw

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: Peter T.
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 11:32 AM

The missing verse (available in the bootleg) is two after the one you cite ("The backstage manager" verse comes first):

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..
,br>yours, Peter T. P.S. If that fills in your logical gap.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: catspaw49
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 11:53 AM

Peter, I didn't think that was a lost verse. I've known it and its in the lyrics listed at all sites. I'd have sworn it's on "Blood on the Tracks" but i guess I may be wrong here.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: Peter T.
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 12:16 PM

I am probably completely wrong. I just compared the bootleg version on Eyolf's site and the standard version on another, and noted that a verse was missing -- probably a copyist's mistake. I have always thought it was a stupid song, and never paid attention to either version of it.

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: Matt_R
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 06:23 PM

Thanks for that extra line, Peter. It adds so much more to the story! If I haven't mentioned it before, this is my favorite song from Blood On The Trax. Kinda reminds me of my present situation. Maybe I should go by "The Jack of Hearts" from now on...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: catspaw49
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 06:32 PM

I was about to asked you Matt, "What extra line?" and then it hit me as to why I've known this verse all along......Joan Baez used it in her recording of the song and I originally learned it from here record.

(Stupid thing has been buggin' me all day and I no longer have a copy of Blood on the Tracks)

Spaw

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: Matt_R
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 07:04 PM

And you haven't bought a replacement copy yet??? What kind of man are you!!!??

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: catspaw49
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 07:36 PM

Broke?

Spaw

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: Peter T.
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 09:46 AM

I forgot Joan Baez did a version of it. Maybe if I listen to that version, I will get vaguely interested in the song. I prefer "Rocky Raccoon" (marginally). yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 11:02 AM

Well Peter, I love this song. Although it is rambling and disjointed I love the spirit and feel of the song. I also can't imagine anyone but Bob doing it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: Little Hawk
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 10:23 PM

I'm also surprised you don't like it, Peter. It's a pretty unique and extraordinary song, with a lot of grand old archetypes in it...

The mysterious outlaw leader, the Jack of Hearts (who is obviously Bob Dylan himself, on some symbolic level). The beautiful woman, Lily, who is secretly in love with the Jack of Hearts, but is having an illicit and none too happy affair with Big Jim...it is implied that she has been forced into the affair, cos Big Jim gets what he wants in that town.

Big Jim, who is the richest and most powerful scumbag in town, the owner of the town's "only diamond mine". Think of him as the owner of Warner Brothers or Capitol, and you've got the picture.

Rosemary - Big Jim's embittered wife, the high society lady with a husband she despises, and a secret admirer of the Jack of Hearts.

The gang - none other than The Band, Dylan's back-up band in 1974 and on many other occasions. In the song, they break into the bank while the Jack of Hearts tries to meet Lily. They "cleaned out the bank safe" (pulled in big concert ticket sales) and "made off with quite a haul, but they couldn't go no further without the Jack of Hearts". Right on.

Big Jim catches the Jack with Lily and is about to shoot the Jack...or maybe both of them...when his wife Rosemary puts a knife into his back!

The next day the Jack skips town, off on the "never-ending tour" he "keeps on keepin' on"...while Rosemary faces the gallows and she "didn't even blink".

Lily stays behind and picks up the pieces, and life goes on.

Talk about an epic and dramatic tale! You could make a great full length movie on the story in this song.

And musically, it works.

- LH

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: Matt_R
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 10:36 PM

Thanks LH! I was just waiting for your reply, I knew it would be a good one...I was right!! Awesome analysis! Thanks ol' friend. Cheers from a fellow LRATJOH fan.

--Matt

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: catspaw49
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 10:40 PM

..................uh, yeah..................... right.............................that's uh, er, what I figgered............................ sure.........................oh yeah, I got it now...................... that's uh, like.....uh....... really, er, just uh, ...great........................

What the fock are you smokin' Hawk? Can you send me some? Send some to Major Tom too.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: Peter T.
Date: 20 Jan 01 - 11:16 AM

I am sure you are right, Little Hawk, it just isn't to my taste. I suppose it is comic relief in "Blood on the Tracks". The rest of the album has such a kind of coherence around a different set of sounds and emotions, that I always fast forward or program a skip over it. Shows my limitations, I guess.
yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Jan 01 - 12:53 PM

Man, I gotta start remembering that I've asked questions - thanks for the answer, and no, it isn't on BOTT, which is in my new car so I listen to it al the time. I like it because it's a long, rambling ballad sung almost à la Gilbert & Sullivan pattersong. It's a challenge to sing, in other words. I also like The Nightmare Song from Iolanthe for that reason. But this verse doesn't sound at all familiar, I'm beginning to wonder if there wasn't another missing one? Also, Rosemary isn't the wife, she's the woman trapped in the role of the wife, the way Lily is trapped in the role of mistress. In my interp, at any rate... She was tired of the attention, tired of playing the role of Big Jim's wife, says one verse.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lily, Rosemary and the missing verse
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Jan 01 - 01:34 PM

Yeah, sort of...I think Rosemary is Big Jim's wife in the legal sense only, in that she has the marriage license and plays the part...but she's not his wife in any true sense at the heart level...thus she is playing a role for the sake of public appearances.

You could say that about any number of legally married people out there.

Spaw - Don't pretend to be stupider than you really are! We know better than that. :-)

- LH