Something Just Broke...

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 6:46pm

hey, i have a petty reuqest. can someone post the lyrics to something just broke from Assassins? I don't have the booklet... thanks a trillion!

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 6:50pm

Hey, all you need to do is go to either one of these websites:

http://www.allmusicals.com

http://www.stlyrics.com

[maybethistime]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 6:51pm

Niether of those has it.

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 7:13pm

Oops, my bad! I don't really have the booklet with me either. Sorry

[lostwallflower]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 9:24pm

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...



Sorry if its hard to read-- I did it quickly and didn't list characters.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 9:31pm

One of the most beautiful Sondheim songs ever written that really needs to be seen performed to be appreciated.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 1:27am

Actually, I recently played one of the Bystanders in a production of "Assassins" and sang this song, and even I thought it should be cut (it's an optional song). It breaks up the dramatic continuity between the Oswald scene and the finale, and frankly, it's not a very good song.

However, I know I'm in the minority here...anyone wanna back me up on this?

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 1:32am

No. It's actually a great song. It's not exactly the style of Assassins. It actually quotes Passion in maaaany places. however it's great lyric writing and the concept make it a wonderful song. I can't vouche for it's placement however.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 1:51am

Jazzy--that's part of my problem with it. The style of the song is nothing like the rest of the music in the show. I always thought it sounded more like something out of SITPWG--and, since you mention it, it does sound like PASSION too. It just seems awkward. Plus, I LOVE how on the OCR the music crescendos (sp?) from the end of the book dipository scene and the gunshot to the "Hail to the Chief" theme as we come to the finale...SOOOO brilliant.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 2:00am

See that scene seemed REALLY long to me. I think I needed something to add a little air to the scene. Actually I think he was writing Passion when he added this piece. I'm not sure though. There are some quotes from one of the scene changes. I think it was totally unconscious.

[robbiej]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 10:28am

The problem with the song is that for the entire evening, we are shown only the assassains perspective. Suddenly, we're forced to deal with the 'average American's' perspective. I think two things could have helped this number land. First, snippets of this song should be sung throughout the evening, after each assassination so that we don't all of a sudden have to listen to a bunch of people in which we're not invested. Secondly, DO NOT remove the assassains from the stage. I always thought a slow-mo, stylized celebration while the ensemble sings this song would have been effectively creepy.

In the end, though, we could do without it. We, as the audience, are the average Americans, and I think it's much more effective to NOT have our voice represented on stage.

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 10:40am

It gave me chills when I saw the show last April. I remember thinking as it started, "Oh yeah, this is a Sondheim show"! I guess because the rest of the score did not sound like typical Sondheim. But after listening to it a few times. You know it's Sondheim!

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 10:49am

Loved performing this piece when I did the show, and understand why many think it doesn fit...but there are many different sounds in this score owing to the fact that the eras change for each of the assassins...
RobbieJ, I think you have a great idea to help integrate this piece into the show...you should direct!

[robbiej]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 11:03am

Why thank you!

I would kill to direct the show (not that I could ever do any better than Mr. Mantello). It would be an absolute thrill.

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 5:45pm

THANKS SO MUCH!!! what an amazin song...

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 6:08pm

i think we get snippets throughout of "average American" reactions to the Presidents and their attackers, particularly in "I Saved the President".

i do think the score has wonderful variety, not just in time period, so the style of composition differing is no problem for me. As i've stated elsewhere, the way Sondheim employs and expands typical American music forms in this piece, from barbershop quartet to Copland to Sousa to folk rock, is absolutely brilliant. This song has echoes of more serious music from the Sixties, and i find it appropriate.

The lyrics are beautiful, not hard to sing, and not overly clever as cynics can accuse Sondheim of doing. It was a wonderfully staged moment in the revival, and for me at least never disrupted the climactic flow of the second act. i also think the inclusion and placement helps counteract the show's reputation of being "anti-American" when in fact it really explores the attractions and challenges of American patriotism.

i also like the idea of the song recurring before hand, much like that device used in SWEENEY or MERRILY.

For me, Sondheim gives such choices to directors, that any well-thought and integrated version is interesting. i was just reading recently a very compelling private account of Sondheim's lyric re-writing for the revival of PACIFIC OVERTURES, and his continuing artistry deserves respect and thoughtful consideration.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 6:20pm

The lyrics may not be difficult to sing but they are extremely difficult to learn and master. The many thoughts that make up the whole concept in the verses of the song are very tedious to teach. Believe me.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 6:37pm

all i can say is, as an intelligent audience member, the product of that time spent teaching is worth it. "Art isn't easy..."