A shooting gallery at a carnival. Shelves of prizes. The target figures are all men, dressed formally in various fashions from the last two hundred years. The Proprietor stands behind the counter.

PROPRIETOR

(as Leon Czolgosz enters)

Hey, pal -- feelin' blue?
Don't know what to do?
Hey, pal --

(Czolgosz looks over.)

I mean you --
Yeah.
C'mere and kill a president.

(Czolgosz crosses to the counter.)

No job? Cupboard bare?
One room, no one there?
Hey, pal, don't despair --
You wanna shoot a president?
C'mon and shoot a president...

(shows Czolgosz a gun)

Some guys
Think they can't be winners.

(smiles, shakes his head)

First prize
Often goes to rank beginners.

CZOLGOSZ
How much?

PROPRIETOR
Four-fifty. Ivor-Johnson. .32. Rubber Handle. Owls stamped on the sides.

CZOLGOSZ
All right, give me.

(He puts his money on the counter, and the Proprietor hands him the gun. Czolgosz slowly examines it as John Hinckley enters.)

PROPRIETOR

(to Hinckley)

Hey kid, failed your test?
Dream girl unimpressed?
Show her you're the best.

(proffers another kind of gun)

If you can shoot a president --

(Hinckley approaches the counter.)

You can get the prize with the big blue eyes,
Skinny little thighs and those big blue eyes...

(presses the gun into Hinckley's hand)

Everybody's got the right to be happy.
Don't stay mad, life's not as bad as it seems.
If you keep your goal in sight,
You can climb to any height.
Everybody's got the right to their dreams...

HINCKLEY
Deal.

CZOLGOSZ

(unable to open his gun)

Mister --

HINCKLEY

(plunking money down on the counter)

I said "deal."

CZOLGOSZ

(to Hinckley)

You. Wait your turn.

HINCKLEY
It is my turn.

CZOLGOSZ
I was here first --

PROPRIETOR
Watch it now, no violence!

(He shows Czolgosz how his gun opens and closes as Charles Guiteau enters.)

PROPRIETOR

(to Guiteau)

Hey, fella,
Feel like you're a failure?
Bailiff on your tail? Your
Wife run off for good?
Hey, fella,
Feel misunderstood?
C'mere and kill a president...

GUITEAU
Okay!

(He pays the Proprietor, who hands him a silver-mounted .44. Giuseppe Zangara, a tiny angry man, enters, groans and leans against the counter, rubbing his stomach.)

ZANGARA
Marron...

PROPRIETOR
What's-a wrong, boy?
Boss-a treat you crummy?
Trouble with your tummy?
This-a bring you some relief.

(holds out a gun)

Here, give some Hail-a to da chief --

ZANGARA
You gimme prize--

PROPRIETOR
Anything you want.

ZANGARA

(reaching for the gun)

I want prize. You gimme prize!

PROPRIETOR

(lifting the gun up high)

Only eight bucks. Cheap for "anything you want."

(Zangara pays for the gun and grabs it.)

Everybody's got the right to be different,

(Samuel Byck enters, dressed in a Santa Claus suit, carrying a sign which reads: SANTA SAYS, ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT [OVER].)

Even though at times they go to extremes.
Aim for what you want a lot --
Everybody gets a shot.

(Byck turns around, revealing the other side of his sign: TO PEACABLY PETITION MY GOVERNMENT FOR THE REDRESS OF ALL MY GRIEVANCES.)

Everybody's got the right to their dreams --

(Byck goes to the counter. As he pays for and receives a gun from the Proprietor, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme enters and eyes the shooting gallery with interest. At the same time, Sara Jane Moore enters and moves toward the booth, fishing clumsily in her handbag for money.)

PROPRIETOR

(to Fromme)

Yo, baby!
Looking for a thrill?
The Ferris wheel is that way.

(Fromme comes over.)

No, baby,
This requires skill --

(Fromme puts money down; the Proprietor shrugs, gives her a gun.)

Okay, you want to give it a try...

(As Fromme plays with the gun, Moore is spilling keys, credit cards, lipstick, etc., over the counter.)

Jeez, lady--!

(indicates Czolgosz)

Give the guy some room!
The bumper cars are that way...

(Moore finds her money; Proprietor gives her a .38, which she accidentally points at his stomach.)

Please, lady --

(turning barrel away)

Don't forget that guns can go boom...

(John Wilkes Booth enters and contemplates the scene.)

PROPRIETOR
Hey, gang, look who's here.
There's our pioneer.

(to Booth)

Hey, chief.

(gesturing toward the assassins)

Loud and clear:

BOOTH

(to the assassins)

Everybody's got the right to be happy.
Say, "Enough!"
It's not as tough as it seems.
Don't be scared you won't prevail.
Everybody's free to fail.
No one can get put in jail for their dreams.
Free country--!

PROPRIETOR
-- Means your dreams can come true:

BOOTH
Be a scholar --

PROPRIETOR
Make a dollar --

BOTH & PROPRIETOR
Free country--!

BOOTH
-- Means they'll listen to you:

PROPRIETOR
Scream and holler --

BOOTH
Grab 'em by the collar!

BOTH & PROPRIETOR
Free country--!

BOOTH
-- Means you don't have to sit --

PROPRIETOR
That's it!

BOOTH
-- And put up with the shit.

ASSASSINS
Everybody's got the right to some sunshine --

BOOTH
Everybody...

ASSASSINS
Not the sun but maybe one of its beams.
One of its beams.

ALL
Rich man, poor man, black or white,
Pick your apple, take a bite,
Everybody just hold tight to your dreams.
Everybody's got the right to their dreams...

(They turn to face the targets, raising their guns. Just as they are about to shoot, "Hail to the Chief" is heard, then a voice on the P.A. system.)

VOICE
Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln!

(Booth looks up at an imaginary theater box, then leaves. A gunshot offstage.)

BOOTH'S VOICE
Sic semper tyrannis!...

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A Balladeer, a 20th-century folk singer, enters carrying a guitar.

BALLADEER
Someone tell the story,
Someone sing the song.
Every now and then the country
Goes a little wrong.

Every now and then a madman's
Bound to come along.
Doesn't stop the story --
Story's pretty strong.
Doesn't change the song...

Johnny Booth was a handsome devil,
Got up in his rings and fancy silks.
Had him a temper but kept it level.
Everybody called him Wilkes.

Why did you do it, Johnny?
Nobody agrees.
You who had everything,
What made you bring
A nation to its knees?

Some say it was your voice had gone,
Some say it was booze.
Some say you killed a country, John,
Because of bad reviews.

Johnny lived with a grace and glitter,
Kinda like the lives he lived on stage.
Died in a barn in pain and bitter,
Twenty-seven years of age.

Why did you do it, Johnny,
Throw it all away?
Why did you do it, boy,
Not just destroy the pride and joy of Illinois,
But all the U.S.A.?

Your brother made you jealous, John,
You couldn't fill his shoes.
Was that the reason, tell us, John --
Along with bad reviews?

(The inside of a tobacco barn in rural Virginia is seen. It is night. John Wilkes Booth sits on the floor, a pair of crutches nearby. He reads feverishly through a pile of newspapers.)

BOOTH
Damn!

(He takes a tattered diary out of his pocket and starts to write. The door opens, and David Herold rushes in.)

HEROLD
They're coming! They'll be here any minute --

BOOTH
I need your help. I've got to write this and I can't hold the pen!

HEROLD
Johnny, they've found us! We've got to get out of here!

BOOTH
Not till I finish this.

HEROLD
Johnny --

BOOTH
No! Have you seen these papers? Do you know what they're calling me?! A common cutthroat! A hired assassin! This one says I'm mad!

HEROLD
We must have been mad to think we could kill the President and get away with it!

BOOTH
We did get away with it! He was a bloody tyrant and we brought him down! And I will not have history think I did it for a bag of gold or in some kind of rabid fit!

HEROLD
Johnny, we have to go --

BOOTH
No! I have to make my case! And I need you to take it down!

HEROLD
We don't have time!

BOOTH

(draws his gun and points it at Herold)

Take it down.

(Herold takes the diary, writes.)

An indictment. Of the former President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, who is herein charged with the following High Crimes and Misdemeanors.

BALLADEER
They say your ship was sinkin', John...

BOOTH

(glances at him briefly; back to Herold)

One: That you did ruthlessly provoke a war between the States which cost some six hundred thousand of my countrymen their lives. Two --

BALLADEER
You'd started missing cues...

BOOTH

(glances again; back to Herold)

Two: That you did silence your critics in the North by hurling them into prison without benefit of charge or trial. Three --

BALLADEER
They say it wasn't Lincoln, John.

BOOTH

(to Balladeer)

Shut up! Three --

BALLADEER
You'd merely had
A slew of bad
Reviews --

BOOTH
I said shut up!

VOICE

(from outside barn)

Booth! I have fifty soldiers out here, Booth! Give yourselves up or we'll set fire to the barn!

HEROLD
Don't shoot! I'm coming out!

BOOTH
No!

(Herold rushes out. Booth lunges for him and collapses; to the Balladeer)

I have given up my life for one act, you understand? Do not let history rob me of its meaning. Pass on the truth! You're the only one who can. Please...

(He tosses the diary to the Balladeer.)

BALLADEER
He said, "Damn you, Lincoln, you had your way --

BOOTH

(to Balladeer)

Tell 'em, boy!

BALLADEER
With blood you drew out of Blue and Gray!"

BOOTH
Tell it all!
Tell them till they listen!

BALLADEER
He said, "Damn you, Lincoln, and damn the day
You threw the 'U' out of U.S.A.!"
He said:

BOOTH
Hunt me down, smear my name,
Say I did it for the fame,
What I did was kill the man who killed my country.
Now the Southland will mend,
Now this bloody war can end,
Because someone slew the tyrant
Just as Brutus slew the tyrant --

BALLADEER
He said:

BALLADEER, BOOTH
Damn you, Lincoln,
You righteous whore!

BOOTH
Tell 'em!
Tell 'em what he did!

BALLADEER, BOOTH
You turned your spite into civil war!

BOOTH
Tell 'em!
Tell 'em the truth!

BALLADEER
And more...

BOOTH
Tell 'em, boy!
Tell them how it happened,
How the end doesn't mean that it's over,
How surrender is not the end!
Tell them:
How the country is not what it was,
Where there's blood in the clover,
How the nation can never again
Be the hope that it was.

How the bruises may never be healed,
How the wounds are forever,
How we gave up the field
But we still wouldn't yield,

How the Union can never recover
From that vulgar,
High and mighty
Niggerlover,
Never--!

Never. Never. Never.
No, the country is not what it was...

(The barn begins to burn. Booth prays silently for a moment.)

Damn my soul if you must,
Let my body turn to dust,
Let it mingle with the ashes of the country.

Let them curse me to hell,
Leave it to history to tell:
What I did, I did well,
And I did it for my country.

Let them cry, "Dirty traitor!"
They will understand it later --
The country is not what it was...

(He puts his gun to his head. Blackout on Booth. The sound of a gunshot.)

BALLADEER
Johnny Booth was a headstrong fellow,
Even he believed the things he said.
Some called him noble, some said yellow.
What he was was off his head.

How could you do it, Johnny,
Calling it a cause?
You left a legacy of butchery and treason we took eagerly,
And thought you'd get applause.

But traitors just get jeers and boos,
Not visits to their graves,
While Lincoln, who got mixed reviews,
Because of you, John, now gets only raves.

Damn you, Johnny, you paved the way
For other madmen to make us pay.
Lots of madmen have had their say --
But only for a day.

Listen to the stories.
Hear it in the songs.
Angry men don't write the rules
And guns don't right the wrongs.

Hurts a while,
But soon the country's
Back where it belongs,
And that's the truth.
Still and all,
Damn you, Booth!

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RADIO ANNOUNCER

(as a band plays "El Capitan")

That was President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, ladies and gentlemen, speaking to a crowd of supporters here in Miami's beautiful Bayfront Park. A group of notables are pressing in around the President-elect's car. There's Mayor Anton Cermak of Chicago, and --

(Gunshots are heard, then screams.)

There's been a shot! I can't see -- wait! Mr. Roosevelt is waving! He's all right! But Mayor Cermak has been hit! The police have somebody in custody. An immigrant. Giuseppe Zangara. We take you now to a group of eyewitnesses who will tell us what they saw!

(Five bystanders are revealed clustered around a microphone.)

BYSTANDER #1
We're crowded up close,
And I see this guy,
He's squeezing by,
I catch his eye,
I say to him, "Where do you think you're trying to go, boy?
Whoa, boy!"
I say, "Listen, you runt,
You're not pulling that stunt,
No gentleman pushes their way to the front."
I say, "Move to the back!", which he does with a grunt --
Which is how I saved Roosevelt!

BYSTANDER #2

(pushing #1 away from the microphone)

Then --
Well, I'm in my seat,
I get up to clap,
I feel this tap,
I turn -- this sap,
He says he can't see,
I say, "Find a lap
And go sit on it!"
Which is how I saved --

BYSTANDER #3
Then --
He started to swear
And he climbed on a chair,
He was aiming a gun -- I was standing right there --
So I pushed it as hard as I could in the air,
Which is how I saved Roosevelt!

ALL THREE
Lucky I was there --

BYSTANDER #1
That's why he was standing back so far--!

BYSTANDER #3
That's why when he aimed, he missed the car--!

ALL THREE
Just lucky I was there,
Or we'd have been left
Bereft of F.D.R.!

(Zangara is seen strapped into the electric chair)

ZANGARA
You think that I scare? No scare.
You think that I care? No care.
I look at the world --
No good. No fair. Nowhere.

When I am a boy, no school.
I work in a ditch. No chance.
The smart and the rich ride by,
Don't give no glance.

Ever since then, because of them,
I have the sickness in the stomach,
Which is the way I make my idea
To go out and kill Roosevelt.

First I was figure I kill Hoover,
I get even for the stomach.
Only Hoover up in Washington.
Is wintertime in Washington,
Too cold for the stomach in Washington --
I go down to Miami kill Roosevelt.

No laugh!
No funny!
Men with the money,
They control everything.

Roosevelt, Hoover --
No make no difference.
You think I care who I kill?
I no care who I kill,
Long as it's king!

BYSTNADER #4 (MAN)
The crowd's breaking up
When I hear these shots,
And I mean lots --

BYSTANDER #5 (HIS WIFE)
I thought I'd plotz --

MAN
I spotted him --

WIFE
My stomach was tied in knots --

MAN
So I barrelled --

WIFE
Harold--!
No, what happened was this:
He was blowing a kiss --

MAN
She means Roosevelt --

WIFE
I was saying to Harold, "This weather is bliss!"

MAN
When you think that I might have missed seeing him miss--!

BOTH
Lucky we were there!

WIFE
It was a historical event--!

MAN
-- Worth every penny that we spent!

THE BYSTANDERS
Just lucky we were there!

BYSTANDER #1
To think, if I'd let him get up closer--!

BYSTANDER #3
I saw right away he was insane --

(dragging Bystander #2 forward)

Oh, this is my husband, we're from Maine --

BYSTANDER #2
He told me to sit, but I said, "No sir!"

BYSTANDER #4
This makes our vacation a real success!

BYSTANDER #5

(to approaching photographer)

Are you with the press?

PHOTOGRAPHER
Yes.

BYSTANDER #5
Oh God, I'm a mess...

BYSTANDER #1
Some left wing foreigner, that's my guess --

ZANGARA
No!

BYSTANDERS
And wasn't the band just fantastic?

ZANGARA
No left!
You think I am left?
No left, no right,
No anything!
Only American!

Zangara have nothing,
No luck, no girl,
Zangara no smart, no school,
But Zangara no foreign tool,
Zangara American!
American nothing!

And why there no photographers?
For Zangara no photographers!
Only capitalists get photographers!

ZANGARA, BYSTANDERS
No right! : Lucky
No fair! : I was there!
Nowhere! : I'm on the front page
So what? : Is that bizarre?
No sorry! : And all of those pictures, like a star!
And soon : Just lucky I was there!
No Zangara! : We might have been left
Who care? : Bereft of F.
Pull switch!
No care, : D.
No more,
No : R!

(Zangara is electrocuted.)

↑ Return to Top ↑

CZOLGOSZ

(examining an empty pistol)

It takes a lot of men to make a gun,
Hundreds,
Many men to make a gun:

Men in the mines
To dig the iron,
Men in the mills
To forge the steel,
Men at machines
To turn the barrel,
Mold the trigger
Shape the wheel --
It takes a lot of men to make a gun...
One gun...

BOOTH

(entering)

And all you have to do
Is move your little finger,
Move your little finger and --

(Czolgosz clicks the trigger)

You can change the world.

Why should you be blue
When you've your little finger?
Prove how just a little finger
Can change the world.

CZOLGOSZ
I hate this gun...

GUITEAU

(enters, holding a gun up admiringly)

What a wonder is a gun!
What a versatile invention!
First of all, when you've a gun --

(points it at the audience)

Everybody pays attention.

When you think what must be done,
Think of all that it can do:
Remove a scoundrel,
Unite a party,
Preserve the Union,
Promote the sales of my book,
Insure my future,
My niche in history,
And then the world will see
That I am not a man to overlook!
Ha-ha!

GUITEAU, BOOTH, CZOLGOSZ
And all you have to do
Is squeeze your little finger.
Ease your little finger back --

(They click the triggers.)

You can change the world.
Whatever else is true,
You trust your little finger.
Just a single little finger
Can change the world.

MOORE

(enters, fishing through her purse)

I got this really great gun --
Shit, where is it?
No, it's really great --
Wait --

(pulls out a lipstick, drops it back)

Shit, where is it?
Anyway --

(continuing to fish)

It's just a .38 --

(pulls out a large hairbush)

But --

(drops it back)

It's a gun.
You can make a statement --

(pulls out a shoe)

Wrong --
With a gun --
Even if you fail.

It tells 'em who you are,
Where you stand.
This one was on sale.
It -- no, not the shoe --
Well, actually the shoe was, too.

(drops it back in, fishes again)

No, that's not it --
Shit, I had it here --
Got it!

(pulls gun out, waves it around)

Yeah! There it is! And --

ALL
All you have to do
Is crook your little finger,
Hook your little finger 'round --

(They pull their triggers; the men's guns click; Moore's goes off.)

MOORE
Shit, I shot it...

OTHERS
-- You can change the world.

QUARTET
Simply follow through,
And look, your little finger
Can slow them down
To a crawl,
Show them all,
Big and small,
It took a little finger
No time to change the world.

(Booth, Guiteau, and Moore leave.)

CZOLGOSZ

(continues to examine his gun)

A gun kills many men before it's done,
Hundreds,
Long before you shoot the gun:

Men in the mines
And in the steel mills,
Men at machines,
Who died for what?
Something to buy --
A watch, a shoe, a gun,
A thing to make the bosses richer,
But a gun claims many men before it's done...

Just one more...

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The Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo, New York. Czolgosz watches some fairgoers in line waiting to shake hands with President McKinley.

BALLADEER
Czolgosz, working man,
Born in the middle of Michigan,
Woke with a thought and away he ran
To the Pan-American Exposition
In Buffalo,
In Buffalo.

Saw of a sudden how things were run,
Said, "Time's a-wasting, It's nineteen-one.
Some men have everything and some have none,
So rise and shine --
In the U.S.A.
You can work your way
To the head of the line!"

ATTENDANT
Single line, ladies and gentlemen. Line forms here to meet the President of the United States. Single line to shake hands with President William McKinley.

BALLADEER
Czolgosz, quiet man,
Worked out a quiet and simple plan,
Strolled of a morning all spick and span,
To the Temple of Music
By the Tower of Light
At the Pan-American Exposition
In Buffalo,
In Buffalo.

Saw Bill McKinley there in the sun.
Heard Bill McKinley say, "Folks, have fun!
Some men have everything and some have none,
But that's just fine:
In the U.S.A.
You can work your way
To the head of the line!"

CROWD
Big Bill--!

BALLADEER
-- Gave 'em a thrill.

CROWD
Big Bill--!

BALLADEER
-- Sold 'em a bill.

CROWD
Big Bill--!

BALLADEER
-- Who'd want to kill
A man of good will
Like--?

ALL
Big Bill!

FAIRGOER #1
Doesn't the President look marvelous? So round and prosperous!

FAIRGOER #2
Do you know what his favorite dish is? It was in the paper. Beef.

FAIRGOER #3
I'm told that in his spare time he enjoys collecting coins!

(Czolgosz joins the end of the line.)

BALLADEER
Czolgosz, angry man,
Said, "I will do what a poor man can.
Yes, and there's nowhere more fitting than
In the Temple of Music
By the Tower of Light
Between the Fountain of Abundance
And the Court of Lilies
At the great Pan-American Exposition
In Buffalo,
In Buffalo."

Wrapped him a handkerchief 'round his gun,
Said, "Nothin' wrong about what I done.
Some men have everything and some have none --
That's by his design
The idea wasn't mine alone,
But mine,
And that's the sign:

In the U.S.A.
You can have your say,
You can set your goals
And seize the day,
You've been given the freedom
To work your way
To the head of the line --

(Czolgosz reaches McKinley -- and fires.)

To the head of the line!"

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HINCKLEY
I am nothing,
You are wind and water and sky,
Jodie.
Tell me, Jodie, how I can earn your love.
I would swim oceans,
I would climb mountains,
I would do anything for you.
What do you want me to do?

I am unworthy of your love,
Jodie, Jodie,
Let me prove worthy of your love.
Tell me how I can earn your love,
Set me free.
How can I turn your love
To me?

(Squeaky Fromme is seen on the opposite side of the stage.)

FROMME
I am nothing,
You are wind and devil and God,
Charlie,
Take my blood and body for your love.
Let me feel fire,
Let me drink poision,
Tell me to tear my heart in two,
If that's what you want me to do...

I am unworthy of your love,
Charlie darlin',
I have done nothing for your love.
Let me be worthy of your love,
Set me free --

HINCKLEY
I would come take you from your life...

FROMME
I would come take you from your cell...

HINCKLEY
You would be queen to me, not wife...

FROMME
I would crawl belly-deep through hell...

HINCKLEY
Baby, I'd die for you...

FROMME
Baby, I'd die for you...

HINCKLEY
Even though --

FROMME
Even though --

HINCKLEY : FROMME
I will always know : I will always know
I am unworthy of your love : I am unworthy of your love
Jodie darlin' : Charlie darlin'

BOTH
Let me be worthy of your love.
I'll find a way to earn your love,
Wait and see.
Then you will turn your love to me,
Your love to me...

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Charles Guiteau stands at the foot of the gallows, the Hangman waiting at the top of the steps.

GUITEAU
I am going to the Lordy,
I am so glad.
I am going to the Lordy,
I am so glad.
I am going to the Lordy,
Glory hallelujah!
Glory hallelujah!
I am going to the Lordy...

BALLADEER

(entering)

Come all ye Christians, and learn from a sinner:
Charlie Guiteau.
Bound and determined he'd wind up a winner,
Charlie had dreams that he wouldn't let go.
Said, "Nothing to it,
I want it, I'll do it,
I'm Charles J. Guiteau."

Charlie Guiteau
Never said "Never" or heard the word "No."
When faced with disaster,
His heart would beat faster,
His smile would just grow,
And he'd say:

GUITEAU

(cakewalking up and down the gallows steps)

Look on the bright side,
Look on the bright side,
Sit on the right side of the Lord.
This is the land of opportunity,
He is your lightning, you His Sword.

Wait till you see tomorrow,
Tomorrow you'll get your reward!
You can be sad or you can be president --
Look on the bright side...

(finishes a step or two higher than before)

I am going to the Lordy...

BALLADEER
Charlie Guiteau drew a crowd to his trial,
Led them in prayer,
Said, "I killed Garfield, I'll make no denial.
I was just acting for Someone up there.
The Lord's my employer,
And now he's my lawyer,
So do what you dare."

Charlie said, "Hell,
If I am guilty, then God is as well."
But God was acquitted
And Charlie committed
Until he should hang.
Still, he sang:

GUITEAU

(cakewalking up and down the steps)

Look on the bright side,
Not on the black side.
Get off your backside,
Shine those shoes.
This is your golden opportunity:
You are the lightning and you're news!

Wait till you see tomorrow,
Tomorrow you won't be ignored!
You could be pardoned,
You could be president --
Look on the bright side...

(finishes a step or two higher)

I am going to the Lordy...

BALLADEER
Charlie Guiteau had a crowd at the scaffold --

GUITEAU
I am so glad...

BALLADEER
-- Filled up the square,
So many people that tickets were raffled.
Shine on his shoes, Charlie mounted the stair,
Said, "Never sorrow,
Just wait till tomorrow,
Today isn't fair.
Don't despair..."

GUITEAU

(feverishly, cakewalking up the steps)

Look on the bright side,
Look on the bright side,
Sit on the right side...

(reaches the Hangman)

Of the...

(steps backwards to the bottom, then with resolution starts up again)

I am going to the Lordy,
I am so glad!
I am going to the Lordy,
I am so glad!
I have unified my party,
I have saved my country.
I shall be remembered!

I am going to the Lord...

(Hangman adjusts noose)

BALLADEER
Look on the bright side,
Not on the sad side,
Inside the bad side
Something's good!
This is your golden opportunity:
You've been a preacher --

GUITEAU
Yes, I have!

BALLADEER
You've been an author --

GUITEAU
Yes, I have!

BALLADEER
You've been a killer --

GUITEAU
Yes, I have!

BALLADEER
You could be an angel --

GUITEAU
Yes, I could!

(Hangman puts hood over Guiteau)

BALLADEER
Just wait until tomorrow,
Tomorrow they'll all climb aboard!
What if you never got to be president?
You'll be remembered --

(Guiteau dances briefly.)

Look on the bright side --

(again)

Trust in tomorrow --

(once more)

GUITEAU, BALLADEER
And the Lord!

(Hangman pulls the trapdoor lever.)

↑ Return to Top ↑

The sound of lamentation is heard.

CZOLGOSZ
I did it because it is wrong for one man to have so much service when other men have none...

BOOTH
I did it do bring down the government of Abraham Lincoln and avenge the ravaged South...

HINCKLEY
I did it to prove to her my everlasting love...

FROMME
I did it to make them listen to Charlie...

ZANGARA
I did it 'cause my belly was on fire...

GUITEAU
I did it to preserve the Union and promote the sale of my book...

MOORE
I did it so my friends would know where I was coming from...

BYCK
Where's my prize?

CZOLGOSZ
I did it because no one cared about the poor man's pain...

MOORE
I did it so I'd know where I was coming from...

BYCK
I want my prize...

ZANGARA
I did it 'cause the bosses made my belly burn...

HINCKLEY
I did it so she'd pay attention...

MOORE
So I'd have someplace to come from, and someplace to go...

BYCK
Don't I get a prize?...

GUITEAU
I did it 'cause they said I'd be ambassador to France...

BOOTH
I did it so they'd suffer in the North the way we'd suffered in the South...

BYCK
I deserve a fucking prize!...

FROMME
I did it so there'd be a trial, and Charlie would get to be a witness, and he'd be on TV, and he'd save the world!...

GUITEAU
Where's my prize?

BYCK
I did it to make people listen.

CZOLGOSZ, FROMME
They promised me a prize...

HINCKLEY
Because she wouldn't take my phone calls --

ALL

(except Zangara)

What about my prize?...

ZANGARA
Because nothing stopped the fire--!

ALL

(except Byck)

I want my prize!...

BYCK
Nobody would listen!

BALLADEER

(entering, to assassins)

And it didn't mean a nickel,
You just shed a little blood,
And a lot of people shed a lot of tears.
Yes, you made a little moment
And you stirred a little mud --

But it didn't fix the stomach
And you've drunk your final Bud,
And it didn't help the workers
And it didn't heal the country
And it didn't make them listen
And they never said, "We're sorry"--

BYCK
Yeah, it's never gonna happen,
Is it?
No, sir --

CZOLGOSZ
Never.

BYCK
No, we're never gonna get the prize --

FROMME
No one listens...

BYCK
-- Are we?

ZANGARA
Never.

BYCK
No, it doesn't make a bit of difference,
Does it?

OTHERS

(variously)

Didn't.
Ever.

BYCK
Fuck it!

OTHERS
Spread the word...

ALL
Where's my prize?...

BALLADEER
I just heard on the news
Where the mailman won the lottery.
Goes to show: when you lose
What you do is try again.

You can be what you choose,
From a mailman to a president.
There are prizes all around you,
If you're wise enough to see:
The delivery boy's on Wall Street,
And the usherette's a rock star --

BYCK
Right, it's never gonna happen, is it?
Is it!

HINCKLEY, FROMME
No, man!

BYCK, CZOLGOSZ
No, we'll never see the day arrive --

ASSASSINS

(variously)

Spread the word...
Will we?
No, sir --
Never!

No one's ever gonna even care if we're alive,
Are they?...
Never...
Spread the word...
We're alive...
Someone's gonna listen...
Listen!

BYCK
Listen...
There's another national anthem playing,
Not the one you cheer
At the ball park.

MOORE
Where's my prize?...

BYCK
It's the other national anthem, saying,
If you want to hear --
It says, "Bullshit!"...

CZOLGOSZ
It says, "Never!" --

GUITEAU
It says, "Sorry!" --

OTHERS
Loud and clear --

ASSASSINS

(variously)

It says: Listen
To the tune that keeps sounding
In the distance, on the outside,
Coming through the ground,
To the hearts that go on pounding
To the sound
Getting louder every year --

Listen to the sound...
Take a look around...

We're the other national anthem, folks,
The ones that can't get in-
To the ball park.

Spread the word...

There's another national anthem, folks,
For those who never win,
For the suckers, for the pikers,
For the ones who might have been...

BALLADEER
There are those who love regretting,
There are those who like extremes,
There are those who thrive on chaos and despair.
There are those who keep forgetting
How the country's built on dreams --

ASSASSINS
People listen...

BALLADEER
-- And the mailman won the lottery --

ASSASSINS
They may not want to hear it,
But they listen,
Once they think it's gonna stop the game...

BALLADEER
-- And the usherette's a rock star.

ASSASSINS
No, they may not understand
All the words,
All the same
They hear the music...
They hear the screams...

BALLADEER

(to the assassins)

I've got news --

ASSASSINS
They hear the sobs,
They hear the drums...

BALLADEER
-- You forgot about the country --

ASSASSINS
The muffled drums,
The muffled dreams...

BALLADEER
-- So it's now forgotten you --

ASSASSINS
And they rise...

BYCK
You know why I did it? Because there isn't any Santa Claus!

ASSASSINS
Where's my prize?

BALLADEER
And you forgot --

ASSASSINS
Where's my prize?

BALLADEER
-- How quick it heals --

ASSASSINS
Promises and lies...

BALLADEER
-- That it's a place
Where you can make the lies come true --

ASSASSINS
Spread the word...

BALLADEER
-- If you try --

ASSASSINS
Gotta spread the word...

BALLADEER
-- That's all you have to do --

ASSASSINS
Right,
All you have to do...

(They advance on the Balladeer, forcing him off the stage, then turn front.)

Well, there's another national anthem,
And I think it just begun
In the ball park.
Listen hard...

Like the other national anthem
Says to each and every fan:
If you can't do what you want to,
Then you do the things you can.

You've got to try again!

(variously)

Like they say,
You've got to keep on trying
Every day
Until you get a prize...
Until you get a prize ...

(One by one, they start to leave the stage.)

Until you're heard...
Mustn't get discouraged...
Spread the word...
Mustn't give up hope...

Up to you --
Don't say --
-- What you choose...
-- It's never gonna happen...
Spread the word...

ALL
You can always get a prize...

BOOTH
You can always get your dream...

BYCK
Sure, the mailman won the lottery...

↑ Return to Top ↑

The sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. There is a clock on the wall and, on a shelf, a radio, through which is heard country-and-western music. Faint street noises from outside. Lee Harvey Oswald sits on a carton of books reading a note he has just written. Beside him are a lunch pail and a long package.

RADIO ANNOUNCER
That was the Blue Ridge Boys and Heartache Serenade. And now we take you live to KTEX --

(Oswald turns off the radio, re-reads the note, opens the lunch pail and pulls out a pistol. As he puts it to his head, he hears whistling. John Wilkes Booth appears.)

BOOTH
Oh! I'm sorry. I was just browsing. Please carry on with whatever you were --

(He notices the pistol; Oswald flushes and shoves it back in the pail. Booth indicates the clock.)

Is that the right time? Yes? I don't know what's the matter with this watch. Excuse me for a moment.

(He turns the radio on.)

RADIO ANNOUNCER
-- speaking to you from Love Field, where the President's plane has just touched down and is taxiing toward us across the tarmac. We understand the President plans to speak briefly --

(Oswald stalks over and snaps the radio off. Booth picks up the note.)

BOOTH
Dearest Marina. Today I end my life so that your life can begin. Last night --

(Oswald snatches the note.)

I'm sorry, was that your note?

OSWALD
Fuck you.

BOOTH
We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot here. It's my fault. I shouldn't --

(Oswald grabs his lunch pail and heads for the door.)

You're not going are you? Come on, I didn't mean to -- Alik.

OSWALD

(stopping)

What did you call me?

BOOTH
Alik. You used to like that nickname. Back in Minsk. Marina said Lee sounded Chinese, so she called you Alik. Of course I don't have to call you Alik. I just thought --

OSWALD
How do you know what Marina called me?

BOOTH
I know lots about you, Lee. Let's see...Born, New Orleans, October 18, 1939. Father, Robert, died before your birth. Crazy mother, Marguerite. Dropped out of school at 17. Joined the Marines. Court-martialled twice. Defected to the Soviet Union, October 1959. Defected back, June 1962. Married, Marina Nikolaevna. Two children, June and Rachel. Current employment, stock boy, Texas School Book Depository, Dallas, Texas...Oh. And this morning, depressed over your estrangement from a wife who views you as a dismal and pathetic figure, you rose before dawn, kissed your sleeping children, put your last hundred dollars and your wedding ring into a demi-tasse cup which Marina's mother gave you for a wedding present, and came here to kill yourself...

OSWALD
Who are you?

BOOTH
I'm your friend, Lee.

OSWALD
I don't have any friends.

BOOTH
Yes, you do. You just haven't met them yet.

OSWALD
Show me your badge.

BOOTH
My what?

OSWALD
You bastards think you are so smart. I know my rights. You try to interrogate me in my place of business I can sue you for harassment.

BOOTH
Ah! You think I'm with the F.B.I.!

OSWALD
I have a right to see your badge.

BOOTH
Search me, Lee. You think I've got a badge. Come on, search me.

(Oswald starts to frisk him.)

The F.B.I. You really love those morons, don't you? Hell, why wouldn't you? No one else cares if you live or die. Those guys can't get enough of you. "How was your day, Lee? Sell any secrets to the Soviets? Sabotage any defense plants? Kick off your shoes and tell us all about it!"

OSWALD

(shoving him away)

Fuck you, whoever you are!

BOOTH
Lee. I'm sorry, Lee. It's just so sad. I mean, it's all you ever wanted, isn't it? Someone who won't leave you alone. Someone who wants to hear about your day. Someone, anyone -- your mother. Mother Russia. The Marines. Your wife Marina...Attention must be paid.

OSWALD
What's that mean?

BOOTH
It's from a play, Lee. About a salesman. A man very much like you, Lee. Independent, proud, a decent man who tries and tries but never gets a break. So he does something really dumb. When things go really sour, when he realizes that his whole life has been a failure built on lies, he kills himself. And when he's dead, his wife stands at his grave and says attention must be paid. She has to beg the world to pay attention to this poor, misguided nobody. I'll tell you something, I'm an actor, Lee. And I'm a good one. But Willy Loman is a part that I could never play. And I don't think that you should play it either.

OSWALD
I don't know what you're talking about.

BOOTH
What do you want, Lee?

OSWALD
You know so much, why don't you tell me?

BOOTH
You want what everybody wants. To be appreciated. To be valued. To be in other people's thoughts. For them to think of you and smile. You want someone to love you, Lee. Right?...Isn't that it?...Lee?

OSWALD
Yes.

BOOTH
Forget it.

OSWALD
What?

BOOTH
It's never gonna happen. It's a fantasy. You've got to give it up.

OSWALD
I'm going to kill myself! Don't you think I've given up?!

BOOTH
No, I think you're going to kill yourself because you think that's how to get it. "When I'm dead, then they'll be sorry! When I'm dead, they'll know how much they loved me!" When you close your eyes you probably see the funeral, don't you, Lee? A gentle rain is falling. Everybody has umbrellas --

OSWALD
Shut up!

BOOTH
There's Marina, weeping quietly. Your sobbing children clutching at her skirt. Your mom, your dad. Every boss who ever fired you --

OSWALD
Shut the fuck up!

BOOTH
Sorry, Lee. It's just so childish. It's so dumb --

OSWALD
You think it's dumb?! If I shouldn't kill myself what should I do?! Go home?! Beg her to take me back?! Plead with her?! Beat her up?!

BOOTH
You tried all that. It doesn't work.

OSWALD
I know it doesn't work! So tell me what I should do!

BOOTH
You should kill the President of the United States.

OSWALD
What?

BOOTH
His plane landed at the airport fifteen minutes ago. He's coming into town to make a speech. His motorcade is going to go right past this window. When it does, you shoot him.

OSWALD
You're nuts.

BOOTH
Maybe I am, so what?

OSWALD
I didn't come here to shoot the president.

BOOTH
He didn't come here to get shot...All your life you've been a victim, Lee. A victim of indifference and neglect. Of your mother's scorn, you're wife's contempt, of Soviet stupidity, American injustice. You've finally had enough, so how're you planning to get even? By becoming your own victim.

OSWALD
I am not a murderer.

BOOTH
Who said you were?

OSWALD
You just said I should kill the President.

BOOTH
Lee, when you kill a president, it isn't murder. Murder is a tawdry little crime; it's born of greed, or lust, or liquor. Adulterers and shopkeepers get murdered. But when a president gets killed, when Julius Caesar got killed -- he was assassinated. And the man who did it...

OSWALD
Brutus.

BOOTH
Ah! You know his name. Brutus assassinated Caesar -- what? -- two thousand years ago, and here's a high school drop-out with a dollar twenty-five an hour job in Dallas, Texas, who knows who he was. And they say fame is fleeting...

OSWALD
This is stupid. Up here on the sixth floor, what would I do? Throw school books at him?

BOOTH
What's in the package?

OSWALD
What package?

BOOTH
The package that you brought to work. What's in it?

OSWALD
Curtain rods.

BOOTH
You sure?

OSWALD
Sure I'm sure. Marina wanted me to take them to the --

(Booth tosses the package to Oswald, who opens it, revealing a high-powered rifle.)

BOOTH
That's a Mannlicher-Carcano. 6.5 millimeter. Stopping range 900 yards. The sight's already been adjusted.

OSWALD
Who are you?

BOOTH
My name is John Wilkes Booth, Lee.

OSWALD
John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln.

BOOTH
Attention has been paid...All your life you've wanted to be part of something, Lee. You're finally going to get your wish.

(Booth gestures. The other assassins appear.)

OSWALD
What is this?

BOOTH
The past you never had, the future you'd abandoned -- it's called history, Lee.

GUITEAU
My name is Charles Guiteau. I assassinated President James Garfield.

CZOLGOSZ
Leon Czolgosz. William McKinley.

BYCK
Sam Byck. I'm going to try to kill Dick Nixon.

HINCKLEY
John Hinckley. Ronald Reagan.

FROMME
Lynette Fromme --

MOORE
Sara Jane Moore --

FROMME, MOORE
Gerald Ford.

ZANGARA
Zangara. F.D.R.

OSWALD
I don't get this --

MOORE
It's simple, Lee.

CZOLGOSZ

(indicating pre-Oswald Assassins)

You're going to bring us back.

HINCKLEY

(indicating post-Oswald assassins)

And make us possible.

GUITEAU
We're in your debt, old boy.

BYCK
This Bud's for you, babe.

GUITEAU
Bravo!

(The assassins applaud. They crowd in around Oswald, patting him on the back, reaching for his hand. He shoves them back, throws down the rifle and grabs his lunch pail.)

HINCKLEY
What's he doing?

OSWALD
Getting out of here.

GUITEAU
You mean you're not going to do it?

OSWALD
Goddamn right.

(The assassins turn to Booth.)

GUITEAU
He's not going to do it!

FROMME
You said he would!

HINCKLEY
You promised!

BOOTH
O.K., O.K., shhh... Lee, I'm sorry. I know things are happening kind of fast here. But you can't leave now.

OSWALD
No? Watch me --

(He heads for the door.)

BOOTH
You have a responsibility here, Lee.

OSWALD
To who? To you?

(a chorus of "yes"s from the assassins)

I'm responsible to me and no one else!

BOOTH
Not anymore, Lee. Fifty years from now, they'll still be arguing about the grassy knoll, the Mafia, some Cuban crouched behind a stockade fence, but this -- right here, right now -- this is the real conspiracy. And you're a part of it.

OSWALD
Get out of my way.

BOOTH
Listen to me, Lee. You have to do this. Now. You won't get another chance.

OSWALD
So what? So I'll do something else. I'll shoot my wife. I'll shoot my kids. I won't shoot anyone! Who cares?!

BOOTH
He wants to know who cares...I care, you stupid fool! We all care! Haven't you been listening, for Christ's sake?! Are you such a vapid, vacuous nonentity --

(The assassins make a quiet "shushing" sound.)

Sorry. I'm sorry...John --

HINCKLEY
Yes, sir?

BOOTH
John, when Lee was 8 he had a dog. What was its name?

HINCKLEY
Tex.

BOOTH
The Marines sent him to radar school. Where?

HINCKLEY
The Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida.

BOOTH
The K.G.B. official who de-briefed him in the Kremlin -- what was his name and rank?

HINCKLEY
Lieutenant-Colonel Boris Kutzov.

BOOTH
Lee. Eighteen years form now, when John tries to assassinate President Reagan, they're going to search his room, and do you know what they're going to find? Every book about you ever written.

HINCKLEY

(to Oswald)

Can I have your autograph?

BOOTH

(opening the window)

Take a look, Lee. You know what that is, outside that window? That's America. The Land Where Any Kid Can Grow Up To Be President. The Shining City, Lee. It shines so bright you have to shade your eyes. But in here, this is America, too. "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." An American said that. And he was right. But there are no lives of quiet desperation here. Desperation, yes. But quiet? I don't think so. Not today. Today we're going to make a joyful noise. This is the big one. You're the big one. You're the one that's going to sum it all up and blow it all wide open. Why, after you...

GUITEAU
Tell him.

BOOTH
Should I tell him?

ASSASSINS

(variously)

Go on!...Tell him!...Go ahead!

BOOTH
What the hell...Is Artie Bremer here tonight? Where's Artie Bremer?!

BREMER'S VOICE

(from somewhere in the audience)

It was a bum rap! My penis made me do it!

BOOTH
Who's next?! Who else is out there?!

ANOTHER VOICE
Death to the enemies of Palestine!

BOOTH
Of course, of course! Sirhan Sirhan!

(A rebel yell is heard.)

BOOTH
And James Earl Ray!

(The assassins give a rebel yell.)

Why do these rednecks always have three names? James Earl Ray. John Wilkes Booth --

OSWALD
Lee Harvey Oswald!

BOOTH
I have seen the future, Lee. And you are in it.

(He snaps his fingers -- the radio comes on.)

RADIO ANNOUNCER
-- and now the motorcade is turning onto Elm Street. There's someone holding up a banner. "All the Way with JFK." The President is smiling and waving as his car heads for Dealy Plaza where it will swing past the Texas Book Depository and --

(Booth snaps his fingers -- the radio goes off. He holds out the gun.)

OSWALD
People will hate me.

BOOTH
They'll hate you with a passion, Lee. Imagine people having passionate feelings about Lee Harvey Oswald...

(Oswald reaches for the gun, hesitates, then drops his hand.)

Somebody. Help me...

(Zangara steps forward, speaks in Italian. The assassins translate.)

MOORE
Please. I beseech you --

CZOLGOSZ
We are the hopeless ones. The lost ones...

GUITEAU
We live our lives in exile...

BYCK
Expatriates in our own country...

HINCKLEY
We drift from birth to death, despairing...

FROMME
Inconsolable...

GUITEAU
But through you and your act, we dare to hope...

MOORE
Through you and your act we are revived and given meaning...

CZOLGOSZ
Our lives, our acts, are given meaning...

HINCKLEY
Our frustrations fall away...

BYCK
Our fondest dreams come true...

FROMME
Today, we are reborn, through you...

(Pause)

BOOTH
We need you, Lee.

MOORE
Without you, we're just footnotes in a history book.

GUITEAU
"Disappointed office seeker."

CZOLGOSZ
"Deranged immigrant."

BOOTH
"Vainglorious actor."

FROMME
Without you we're a bunch of freaks.

HINCKLEY
With you we're a force of history.

GUITEAU
We become immortal.

ZANGARA
Finally we belong.

MOORE
To one another.

CZOLGOSZ
To the nation.

GUITEAU
To the ages.

BYCK
Bring us together, babe.

MOORE
You think you can't connect. Connect to us.

CZOLGOSZ
You think you're powerless. Empower us.

BOOTH
It's in your grasp, Lee. All you have to do is move your little finger. You can close the New York Stock exchange.

GUITEAU
Shut down the schools in Indonesia.

MOORE
In Florence, Italy, a woman will leap from the Duomo clutching a picture of your victim and cursing your name --

CZOLGOSZ
Your wife will weep --

FROMME
His wife will weep --

ZANGARA
The world will weep --

GUITEAU
Grief. Grief beyond imagining --

HINCKLEY
Despair --

MOORE
The death of innocence and hope --

CZOLGOSZ
The bitter burdens which you share --

BYCK
The bitter truths you carry in your heart --

GUITEAU
You can share them with the wrold.

BOOTH
You have the power of Pandora's Box, Lee. Open it...

(He holds out the gun. Oswald takes it and crouches at the window.)

GUITEAU
I envy you...

MOORE
We're your family...

HINCKLEY
I admire you...

CZOLGOSZ
I respect you...

MOORE
Make us proud of you...

BOOTH
I envy you...

GUITEAU
We're your family...

HINCKLEY
I admire you...

FROMME, MOORE
We're depending on you...

ZANGARA
You are the future....

GUITEAU, MOORE
We're your family...

CZOLGOSZ
We respect you...

BYCK, GUITEAU
Make them listen to us,
We've been waiting for you.

BYCK, ZANGARA
Make them listen, boy...

ALL

(variously)

We admire you...
We're your family...
You are the future...
We're depending on you...
Make us proud...
All you have to do
Is squeeze your little finger.
Squeeze your little finger...
You can change the wor--

(Oswald fires. Silently, the Assassins leave. Oswald turns, lurches to his feet, takes his lunch pail and goes out. Booth returns, picks up Oswald's suicide note, takes matches from his pocket and burns it. A slide is projected upstage: the famous photo of Oswald being shot by Jack Ruby.)

↑ Return to Top ↑

WOMAN 1
I was out
In the yard,
Taking down the bed sheets,
When my neighbor yelled across:

PROPRIETOR
"The president's been shot."

WOMAN 1
I remember where I was,
Just exactly where I was,
In the yard out back--

PROPRIETOR
"The president's been shot."

MAN 1
I was getting me a shoeshine--

WOMAN 1
--Folding sheets--

MAN 1
--When I heard--

WOMAN 2
We were waiting for a carriage--

MAN 1
--Newsboys--

WOMAN 2
Suddenly there's shouting in the street--

WOMAN 1
--Lizzie's sheets...

PROPRIETOR
"The president's been shot."

WOMAN 2
I'll remember it forever--

WOMAN 1
And I thought:

WOMAN 2 and MAN 1
--Where I was, what I was doing--

WOMAN 1
Something just broke...

PROPRIETOR
"The president's been shot."

MAN 1
My God--!

MAN 2
I was up near the ridge,
Plowing--

MAN 3
We were working at the plant--

WOMAN 2
I was halfway through correcting the exams--

MAN 2
--When my wife

MAN 3
It was Mike--

MAN 2
She comes tearing 'cross the field--

MAN 3
--Mike the foreman--

WOMAN 2
In runs billy--

MAN 3
I mean, he was crying--

WOMAN 2
He was crying--

MAN 2
She was crying--

WOMAN 2, MAN 2, MAN 3
I'll remember it forever...

WOMAN 1
And I thought:

PROPRIETOR
"The president's been shot."

WOMAN 1
You know what?
There are presidents who aren't worth a lot.

WOMAN 2, MAN 2, MAN 3
I kept thinking:

WOMAN 1
There's the kind that gets elected, then forgot.

MAN 1 and WOMAN 1
Mr. Garfield--

WOMAN 2
Mr. Lincoln

MAN 1 and WOMAN 1
--He's a hack.

MAN 3 and WOMAN 1
Bill McKinley--

WOMAN 2
--He's a giant.

MAN 1, MAN 3, WOMAN 1
--He's a joke.

WOMAN 1
Still, something just broke...

PROPRIETOR
"The president is rallying."
"The president is sinking."
"The president is dead."

WOMAN 1
Something just broke.

MAN 2
I was down at the Exchange...

WOMAN 1
Something just made a little dent.

WOMAN 2
I'd been shopping...

MAN 1
I'd been sick...

WOMAN 1
Something just broke--

MAN 3
All I know, it was a Friday...

WOMAN 1
Only for a moment.

MAN1, MAN 2, MAN 3, BOY
I remember it exactly...

WOMAN 1
Something got bent.

WOMAN 2
I'm taking the order...

WOMAN 1
Something just left a little mark.

BOY
I was getting dressed...

WOMAN 2
...two potato soups...

WOMAN 1
Something just went a little dark.
Something just went.

MAN 2
And I wondered:

WOMAN 2
I was scared--

MAN 2 and WOMAN 2
What would follow...

WOMAN 1
Something to be mended.

MAN 1
Made me wonder who we are...

WOMAN 1
Something we'll have to weather--

MAN 2
It was seeing all those torches...

WOMAN 1
Bringing us all together--

MAN 2
He was me...

MAN 3
He was us...

WOMAN 1
--If only for a moment...

ALL
I'll remember it forever...

WOMAN 1
Nothing has really ended--

MAN 1, MAN 2, MAN 3, BOY
Where I was, what I was doing...

WOMAN 1
Only just be suspended...

MAN 1, MAN 2, MAN 3, BOY
Like a flash...

WOMAN 1
'Cause something just stirred...

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

WOMAN 1
Something just woke.

ALL
Something just spoke,
Something I wish I hadn't heard,
Something bewildering occurred.

BOY and MAN 2
Fix it up fast,
Please--

MAN 2 and MAN 3
Till it's just smoke.

WOMAN 1 and WOMAN 2
Till it's only "Something just passed"--
--Nothing that will last.

WOMAN 1, WOMAN 2, MAN 1
Where I was, what I was doing...

MAN 2, MAN 3, BOY
Nothing but the moment...

WOMAN 2
Just an awful moment...

WOMAN 1
But something just--

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Everybody's got the right to be happy,
Don't be mad, life's not as bad as it seems,
If you keep your goal in sight, you can climb to any height,
Everybody's got the right to their dreams.
Everybody's got the right to be different.
If you wanna be different.
Even though at times they go to extremes.
Anybody can prevail, everybody's free to fail,
No one can be put in jail for their dreams.
Free country!
Means that you've got the choice,
Be a scholar! Make a dollar!
Free country!
Means that you get a voice,
Scream and holler! Grab 'em by the collar!
Free country!
Means you get to connect!
That's it! Means the right to expect that you'll have an effect.
That you're gonna connect! Connect! Connect! Connect!
Everybody's got the right to some sunshine!
Not the sun, but maybe one of its beams.
One of its beams!
Rich man, poor man, black or white.
Everybody gets a bite, everybody's got the right to their dreams.
Everybody's got the right...to their dreams...

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