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, 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 foremen, 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

2 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
Make 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 been suspended
Like a flash
'Cause something just stirred

And I thought
And I thought to myself
And I thought
And I thought
I kept thinking

Something just woke
Something just spoke
Something I wish I hadn't heard
Something bewildering occurred

Fix it up fast, please
Till its just smoke
Till its 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