Ruby Jewel Was Here Lyrics

In Nineteen and Double-Aught A harlot who was hot to trot Gave a fine little bijoux to the world With a blacksmith for a makeshift doc In a cathouse far from Camelot Her goldmine brought to bear a baby girl When the child screamed from life's first slap The boss said "Kid get used to that You'll never meet a jake that isn't cruel" And she wrapped her babe in a petticoat Grabbed a bottle and made a toast Here's to my gorgeous bastard, Ruby Jewel And the man at the piano played a tune And everybody sang and danced in the saloon Except Ruby (Ruby) No not Ruby (Ruby) Ruby Jewel Reared among the guttersnipes While her mama puffed a Chinese pipe The salad days for Ruby didn't last Forced to work and pay her dues Inside that poor man's Moulin Rouge A snot-nosed kid had to grow up fast Night and day she toiled and sweat While brothel patrons placed their bets On who would be the first to break her in Then one night the madam screams "Ruby, get to room thirteen There's someone there who thinks you're quite a gem" And the man at the piano played a tune And everybody sang and danced in the saloon Except Ruby (Ruby) No not Ruby (Ruby) Ruby Jewel In done-up hair and a borrowed dress She climbed the stairs scared to death Said a prayer and tiptoed through the door But on deaf ears her prayer fell Cause through a tear she stared at hell Standing there in nothing but his drawers She recognized the whiskered chin Bloodshot eyes and foul-mouthed grin He was the man who wore the silver star She tried to turn around and run But he pulled out his big six gun And said "Hon you won't get very far" And the man at the piano played a tune And everybody sang and danced in the saloon Except Ruby (Ruby) No not Ruby (Ruby) Ruby Jewel Ruby Jewel woke up in bed A crimson pool between her legs Naked as the day that she was born But lying there next to him Made her wish she hadn't been If this was all that living had in store Making sure he was asleep She quietly got to her feet Found his gun and aimed it between his eyes She kept it there til he came to So he could stare down the barrel too Pulled the trigger once and watched him die And the man at the piano played a tune And everybody sang and danced in the saloon Except Ruby (Ruby) No not Ruby (Ruby) Ruby Jewel On a rainy night in 1912 Locked inside the town's new jail Ruby carved a message in the stone When morning came hacks lead her out In ankle chains right through the crowd Who waited in the mud to watch the show They walked her up the gallows steps And put the rope around her neck Dropped the trap as all the watchers cheered But on the wall of a cell In a tiny scrawl and mispelled Were the words "Ruby Jewel Was Here" And the man at the piano played a tune And everybody sang and danced in the saloon Except Ruby (Ruby) No not Ruby (Ruby) Ruby Jewel