Something Broke

I was out

In the yard

Taking down the bed sheets

When my neighbor yelled across:

"The president's been shot"

I remember where I was

Just exactly where I was

In the yard out back

"The president's been shot"

I was getting me a shoeshine

Folding sheets

When I heard

We were waiting for a carriage

Newsboys

Suddenly there's shouting in the street

Lizzy's sheet

"The president's been shot"

I'll remember it forever

And I thought:

Where I was

What I was doing

Something just broke...

"The president's been shot"

My God

I was up near the ridge

Plowing

We were working at the plant

I was halfway through correcting the exams

When my wife

It was Mike

She comes tearing 'cross the field

Mike the foreman

In runs Billy

I mean, he was crying

He was crying

She was crying

I'll remember it forever...

And I thought:

"The president's been shot"

You know what?

There are presidents who aren't worth a lot

I kept thinking:

There's the kind that gets elected, then forgot

Mr. Garfield

Mr. Lincoln

He's a hack

Bill McKinley

He's a giant

He's a joke

Still, something just broke

"The president is rallying"

"The president is sinking"

"The president is dead"

Something just broke

I was down at the Exchange

Something just made a little dent

I'd been shopping

I'd been sick

Something just broke

All I know, it was a Friday

Only for a moment

I remember it exactly

Something got bent

I'm taking the order

Something just left a little mark

I was getting dressed

Two potato soups

Something just went a little dark

Something just went

And I wondered

I was scared of

What would follow...

Something to be mended

Made me wonder who we are

Something we'll have to weather

It was seeing all those torches

Bringing us all together

He was me...

He was us...

If only for a moment

I'll remember it forever

Nothing has really ended

Where I was, what I was doing

Only just be suspended

Like a flash

'Cause something just stirred

And I thought

And I thought to myself (and I thought)

Something just broke

And I thought

I kept thinking

Something just spoke

Something I wish I hadn't heard

Something bewildering occurred

Fix it up fast

Please

'Til it's just smoke

'Til 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

But something just-