In Nineteen and A who was hot to trot Gave a fine bijoux to the world With a blacksmith for a doc In a cat house far Camelot Her goldmine brought to bear a baby
When the child screamed from first slap The boss said, "Kid, get to that never meet a day that isn't cruel" And she wrapped her in a petticoat a bottle and made a toast Here's to my bastard, Ruby Jewel
And the man at the piano played a And sang and danced in the saloon Except (Ruby) No, not (Ruby) Ruby
among the guttersnipe While her mama a Chinese pipe The days for Ruby didn't last Forced to work and pay her Inside that poor man's Rouge A snot-nosed kid had to grow up
and day she toiled and sweat While brothel patrons placed bets On who would be the first to her in Then one night the madam "Ruby, get to thirteen There's someone there who you're quite a gem"
And the man at the piano a tune And sang and danced in the saloon Except (Ruby) No, not (Ruby) Ruby
In done-up hair and a borrowed She climbed the stairs to death Said a prayer and tiptoed the door But on deaf ears her prayer through a tear she stared at hell Standing in nothing but his drawers
She recognized the whiskered Bloodshot and foul-mouthed grin He was the man who wore the star She tried to around and run But he out his big six gun And said, "Hon, you won't get far"
And the man at the piano a tune And sang and danced in the saloon Except (Ruby) No, not (Ruby) Jewel
Ruby woke up in bed A crimson pool her legs as the day she was born But there next to him Made her wish she been If this was all living had in store
sure he was asleep She quietly got to her Found his gun and aimed it his eyes She kept it there til he to So he could stare the barrel too the trigger once and watched him die
And the man at the played a tune And everybody sang and in the saloon Ruby (Ruby) No, not (Ruby) Ruby
On a rainy in nineteen twelve Locked the town's new jail carved a message in the stone When morning came, hacks her out In ankle chains through the crowd Who waited in the mud to the show
walked her up the gallows steps Put the rope her neck Dropped the trap as all the cheered But on the of a cell In a tiny scrawl and the words, 'Ruby Jewel was here'
And the man at the played a tune And everybody sang and in the saloon Ruby (Ruby) No, not (Ruby) Jewel