The Mechanisms
One Eyed Jacks
“Ante up, gentlemen, the game is New Texas Hold ’em. Here at One-Eyed Jack’s we only play with 52 cards, no jokers, but suicide kings are wild.”
[Jack]
Welcome to the house, my boy, come in, sit - have a cigar
I hear that you’re a dab hand at the cards
It’s always a pleasure to see Billy Vangelis’ boy
I trust you’ll give your daddy my regards
Now, it’s about your father that I want to speak to you
You see he’s got himself a little debt
And I thought that you might help him out by doing a few jobs for me
Nothing all that new to you, I’ll bet
Tell me, how would you feel about killing a few folk
I know that your hands are already red
Don’t worry, no-one real important and no-one who would be missed
You’ll barely even notice that they’re dead
[Spoken: Jonny D’Ville]
“Alright Jack, I reckon I can do that for you.”
[Jack] “Good.”
[Jonny D’Ville]
And when, at last, my father fell
With a bullet through his spine
The hand that held onto that smoking gun
And pulled the trigger was mine
As he lay there, dying on the floor
He whispered ‘I forgive you, son
Ain’t no other way that our story could end
No other way our race could be run’
[Instrumental]
[Jack]
Welcome back again, I hope it wasn’t too distasteful
You’ll see that in the end it’s for the best
You’ll be needing a new father, I thought I might fit the bill
Take my hand, dear Jonny, have a rest
[Jonny D’Ville] “Well, that’s very kind of you Jack and I know that in your own heart you only ever did what was best for me but, you see, I don’t need a father anymore. Got a new friend, she’s a doctor. She gave me an interesting prescription - let’s see if I can remember. Oh yeah, half an ounce of lead to be injected directly into the brain. And it wasn’t a prescription for me.”
[Gunshot]
[Jonny D’Ville]
I left the room devoid of life, no more of One-Eyed Jack
There’s nothing left to keep me here, no memories to pack
With half a can of kerosene and a match to set the tone
The casino burned behind me and I’ll never go marching home
The bar it was the first to burn, the timbers went up well
The poker tables followed suit, that fire and brimstone smell
I took Doc Carmilla’s hand and we went forth to roam
The casino burned behind us and I’ll never go marching home
“No aces, deuces, spades, hearts, diamonds or clubs. No royal flush, no dead man’s hand. No suicide kings, no one-eyed jacks. And definitely no jokers.”