Something Just 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 streets
Lizzie's sheets
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 though
The President's been shot
You know what?
As a president he isn't worth a lot
I kept thinking
He'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
Something just broke (I'd been sick)
(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 (ah ah)
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)
Something just been suspended (like a flash)
'Cause something just broke (and I thought)
(And I thought to myself)
Something just woke
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-