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—

[LADY]
We were waiting for a carriage—

[CLERK]
—Newsboys—

[LADY]
Suddenly there's shouting in the street—

[HOUSEWIFE]
—Lizzie's sheet

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

[LADY]
I'll remember it forever—

[HOUSEWIFE]
And I thought:

[CLERK & LADY]
—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?
There are Presidents who aren't worth a lot

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

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

[FARMER & HOUSEWIFE]
Mr. Garfield—

[SCHOOLTEACHER]
Mr. Lincoln—

[FARMER & HOUSEWIFE]
—He's a hack

[FACTORY HAND & HOUSEWIFE]
Bill McKinley—

[SCHOOLTEACHER]
—He's a giant

[FACTORY HAND & HOUSEWIFE]
—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
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—

[GENTLEMAN]
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]
Only just been suspended

[OTHERS]
Like a flash...

[HOUSEWIFE]
'Cause something just stirred

[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—
—Nothing that will last
Where I was, what I was doing
Nothing but the moment
Just an awful moment

[HOUSEWIFE]
But something just—