Jack Ruby

I remember his hat tilted forward

His glasses are folded in his vest

And he seems like the kind of man who beats his horses

Or the dancers who work in a bar

We saw on the screen his face for a moment

No time to plead or even ask why

Jack Ruby appears from out of nowhere

Then disappears, in broad daylight

'Cause he's a friend of that cloven-hoofed gangster the devil

He's been seen with the sheriff and the police

Drinking whiskey and water after hours

Saying, "Let's do business, boys. The drinks are on me."

So draw the box along quickly

Avert your eyes with shame

Let us stand and speak of the weather

And pretend nothing ever happened on that day

Grant us the luxury, 'cause all our heroes are bastards

Grant us the luxury, 'cause all our heroes are thieves --

Of the innocence, of the afternoons

That we think it's a virtue to simply survive

But it feels like this calm it's decaying

It's collapsing under its own weight

And I think it's your friend the hangman coming

Chokin' back a laugh, drunk and swaggering to your door

Now do you feel that cold, icy presence

In the morning with coffee and with bread?

Do you feel, in the movement of traffic and days

A terrible significance?