Outside the White House, protesters recount the terrible toll of the Vietnam War, as President Johnson watches from his office. The voices are joined by other figures from LBJ's life and career who found themselves trampled down by his lust for power, including the once-popular Governor of Texas, Coke Stevenson, who saw an election stolen from him by Johnson, RFK, who found himself marginalized by Johnson after his brother's death, and even Lady Bird Johnson, who reveals some of the pain caused by her husband's constant infidelity, hidden under that forgiving smile. The protest is narrated by Zephyr Wright, who was Johnson's maid for decades and who was responsible for helping him understand the importance of civil rights, according to his own testimony. Later she will implore us to celebrate his gifts to the nation, even as we recoil in horror at the loss of life and suffering he brought with the War.

LYRICS

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Protester 1:

Smoke is rising on the far side of the ocean

Turn eighteen, get on a plane and cross 

We keep hearing victory’s in motion

It’s pretty clear that we’ve already lost 

Protestor 2: 

Will you pull the plug 

Or can you only pull a trigger?

Time to pull the rug from under you

Your time is through.

Protestor 3:

There is not a drug

That can we take to help us figure 

out the mess we’re in

And why you’ve been 

So untrue 

All: 

Hey hey hey 

LBJ

How many kids did you kill today?

You always had to win

Every game you play

There’s no price too high to pay.

Hey hey hey

LBJ

How many body bags today?

You really had to take this all the way

Was it worth it, can you say?

RFK: (spoken) The prosecution calls its second witness – LBS’s opponent in the 1948 Texas senate race, Mr. Coke Stevenson!

Coke Stevenson:

I was “Mr. Texas.” 

It was my destiny

To take my place in the lone star senate seat

All: Coke Stevenson! Vote Coke Stevenson!

Coke:

Till you came and stole 10,000 votes from me

I guess good things must come to those who cheat.

RFK:  We call Ms. Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson…

Lady Bird:

And you bent the rules in our life too

You know my Lyndon.

And I looked the other way for home and country too.

People can be cruel, but who among us hasn’t sinned in

This world before?

And though you sinned more

I still loved you. 

All:

Hey hey hey 

LBJ

How many votes did you steal today?

Knowing that with every power play

Coke: Someone was pushed out of the way. 

All: 

Hey hey hey 

LBJ

How many hearts did you break today?

Lady: 

Knowing that no matter 

how far you’d stray,

I would never fly away.

RFK:

Did you have to take the oath of office

While my brother was not yet in the ground?

The whole country mourning what we lost with you there in his bedroom

Already crowned 

Maybe you completed what he started

But he said it

All before you ever had the guts to do a thing.

Though he fought the fight with all his heart,

YOU took the credit.  

And always afraid of the changes I would bring

All: 

Hey hey hey 

LBJ

How many bills did you pass today?

More than anybody before you could say

And maybe no once since your day

But hey hey hey 

LBJ

Did you throw your legacy away

On the day you sent our sons and brothers away?

So hey hey hey

LBJ

How Many Kids did you kill today?

You always had to win every game you played

Coke: But somehow

Lady Bird: Some way

Protester 2: Somehow 

RFK: Some way 

All: You’re gonna have to pay.