Women Cannot Read

[PASSENGERS]
America, America
We're sailing to America
In 1963

[DEVON/JOAN'S FATHER]
Oh, my little Joan, come! Look at the horizon! Think of all the possibilities that await you

In America, enlightened nation
Where even women get education
From clean to cook, every skill you need
Don't fret, I'll tell the recipes 'cause women cannot read

[DEVON/JOAN'S FATHER AND PASSENGERS]
Oh, women cannot read
Women cannot read
A-B-C-D, she don't know
'Cause women cannot read

[MACKENZIE/JOAN]
Tata! I know you were among the wisest men back in Susnovietz
Admired by the Jews, even respected by the Soviets
I trust your understanding of the workings of the world
But I see somebody reading and I think that it's a girl?!

[DEVON/JOAN'S FATHER]
If they're reading, they're a boy. A genius boy! All men are genius in America. Many men in America. You will love it, my Joan!

In America, romantic nation
Men will be fighting for your adoration
You choose who you want, love can take the lead
As long as he is Jewish, also Polish, also on my list, a list that I'll recite to you 'cause women cannot read

[DEVON/JOAN'S FATHER AND PASSENGERS]
Oh, women cannot read
Women cannot read
A-B-C-D, we don't know
'Cause women cannot read

[MACKENZIE/JOAN]
Tata, there's nothing more romantic than my dad picking my mate for me
Of course I love it when you swear you'll come on every date with me
But even if in Poland girls take pride in being meek, in New York there's a religion called the Feminine Mystique
I remember Mama lit the room up like a lighthouse in a fog
When she raised her voice to sing and pray and sing along
Tata, in America, could I make noise like Mama did?
Could I become a banker or a doctor or a drama kid?

[DEVON/JOAN'S FATHER]
Oh, sweet Joan. I know you miss your dead mother. But that's no reason to dream crazy dreams. If you were a man, ach! Who knows. But you are my little illiterate woman. Just be happy with what you're going to have, my child!

[MACKENZIE/JOAN]
Okay, I know there's something better
Than to cook and do the cleaning
But I look at every letter
And I wanna know its meaning
I'm wrestling with these words
That I'm an inch away from knowing
My eyes are moving back and forth
The sense of it is growing

[DEVON/JOAN'S FATHER]
In America, enlightened nation
Where even women get education
From clean to cook, every skill you need
Don't fret, I'll tell the recipes 'cause women cannot read

[MACKENZIE/JOAN]
J- J- Jifka was shot

[PASSENGERS]
Maybe she can read

[DEVON/JOAN'S FATHER]
No way!

[PASSENGERS]
Maybe she can read

[DEVON/JOAN'S FATHER]
That's luck!
A-B-C-D, she can't know

[PASSENGERS]
Or maybe she can read

[MACKENZIE/JOAN]
It's New York Harbor, look
That statue holds a book
It's A-M-E-R-I-C-A- See, Tata, I can read

[PASSENGERS]
Hey!