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-