Something Just Broke

[HOUSEWIFE]
I was out in the yard
Taking down the bed sheets
When my neighbor yelled across

[VOICE, spoken]
"The President's been shot."

[HOUSEWIFE]
I remember where I was
Just exactly where I was
In the yard out back

[VOICE, spoken]
"The President's been shot."

[OFFICE CLERK]
I was getting me a shoeshine

[HOUSEWIFE]
Folding sheets

[CLERK]
When I heard

[MAN]
We were waiting for a carriage

[CLERK]
Newsboys

[MAN]
Suddenly there's shouting in the street

[HOUSEWIFE]
Lizzie's sheets

[VOICE, spoken]
"The President's been shot."

[MAN]
I'll remember it forever

[HOUSEWIFE]
And I thought

[CLERK & MAN]
Where I was, what I was doing

[HOUSEWIFE]
Something just broke

[VOICE, spoken]
"The President's been shot."

[MAN, spoken]
My God!

[FARMER]
I was up near the ridge
Plowing

[FACTORY HAND]
We were working at the plant

[SCHOOLTEACHER]
I was halfway through
Correcting the exams

[FARMER]
When my wife

[FACTORY HAND]
It was Mike

[FARMER]
She comes tearing 'cross the field

[FACTORY HAND]
Mike the foreman

[SCHOOLTEACHER]
In runs Billy

[FACTORY HAND]
I mean, he was crying

[SCHOOLTEACHER]
He was crying

[FARMER]
She was crying

[SCHOOLTEACHER, FARMER, & FACTORY HAND]
I'll remember it forever

[HOUSEWIFE]
And I thought

[VOICE, spoken]
"The President's been shot."

[HOUSEWIFE]
You know what?
As a president, he isn't worth a lot

[SCHOOLTEACHER, FARMER, & FACTORY HAND]
I kept thinking

[HOUSEWIFE]
He's the kind that gets elected, then forgot

[FARMER]
Mr. Garfield

[SCHOOLTEACHER]
Mr. Lincoln

[FARMER]
He's a hack

[FACTORY HAND]
Bill McKinley

[SCHOOLTEACHER]
He's a giant

[FACTORY HAND]
He's a joke

[HOUSEWIFE]
Still, something just broke

[VOICE, spoken]
"The President is rallying."
"The President is sinking."
"The President is dead."

[HOUSEWIFE]
Something just broke

[STOCKBROKER]
I was down at the Exchange

[HOUSEWIFE]
Something just made a little dent

[LADY]
I'd been shopping

[OLD MAN]
I'd been sick

[HOUSEWIFE]
Something just broke

[PAWNBROKER]
All I know, it was a Friday

[HOUSEWIFE]
Only for a moment

[OTHERS]
I remember it exactly

[HOUSEWIFE]
Something got bent

[WAITRESS]
I'm taking the order

[HOUSEWIFE]
Something just left a little mark

[SCHOOLBOY]
I was getting dressed

[WOMAN 2]
Two potato soups

[HOUSEWIFE]
Something just went a little dark

[OTHERS]
Ahh

[HOUSEWIFE]
Something just went

[OTHERS]
And I wondered
I was scared of
What would follow

[HOUSEWIFE]
Something to be mended

[STOCKBROKER]
Made me wonder who we are

[HOUSEWIFE]
Something we'll have to weather

[WOMAN]
It was seeing all those torches

[HOUSEWIFE]
Bringing us all together

[POLICEMAN]
He was me

[MINISTER]
He was us

[HOUSEWIFE]
If only for a moment

[OTHERS]
I'll remember it forever

[HOUSEWIFE]
Nothing has really ended

[OTHERS]
Where I was, what I was doing

[HOUSEWIFE]
Something just been suspended

[OTHERS]
Like a flash

[HOUSEWIFE]
'Cause something just broke

[OTHERS, variously]
And I thought
And I thought to myself
And I thought

[HOUSEWIFE]
Something just woke

[OTHERS]
And I thought
I kept thinking

[ALL]
Something just spoke
Something I wish I hadn't heard
Something bewildering occurred
Fix it up fast
Please
Till it's just smoke
Till it's only something just passed

[HOUSEWIFE]
Nothing that will last

[OTHERS]
Where I was, what I was doing

[HOUSEWIFE]
Nothing but the moment
Just an awful moment

But
Something just