Broadway Cast of Assassins
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—