"Leo At Work / What Am I Waiting For?" lyrics
Ben Platt, Micaela Diamond & Parade Cast Lyrics
(from Parade (2023 Broadway Cast Recording))
Ever more lives the dream of Atlanta
Ever more her eternal pride!
Strong and sure is the dream of Atlanta
When her brothers are unified
Twenty-eight boxes of caps
At four dollars the gross...
This is wrong, this is wrong
I can fix this. Wait...
Nine more boxes in back
Twenty-eight minus nine...
And then thirty-one girls on the line
Suit and a tie... times six, one eighty-six...
Terribly quiet... divide, seven-sixty...
Quite a well-paid position...
God, all the noise, and on
Yontiff yet...
"Go on, lucille! Four cents a girl for the week...
Bring him his coffee! At ten cents an hour...
Straight from New York, Lucille!
Isn't he smart, Lucille?"
Mama, he's comin' around today
Mama, he's at the door!
Mama, I don't know what I should say...
"Well, what are you waitin' for, Lucille?"
What am I waitin' for?
This is wrong, this is wrong
It's an eight, not a six...
House and a maid
Two sets of China
Ev'rything I was wishin'
New winter coat
Real ermine collar
Who would have known, Lucille?
Married so well, Lucille!
How can he want me, so plain, so prim?
How can he be so sure?
Don't I wish I could be sure like him
Like Leo?
Yes, Lucille, I am building a life for us
For Leo?
No, Lucille, we cannot have a picnic!
Didn't my wishes come true for me
The day he walked through the door?
Isn't he all that I knew he'd be?
Brilliant and filled with humility?
Loyal and stable as any tree?
So why do I wait for more?
What am I waiting for?
Twenty-three cartons of leads, at two-sixty the gross...
This is wrong, this is wrong, I can fix this...
Hey
Yes?
I came for my pay
Name?
Mary Phagan
Ever more her eternal pride!
Strong and sure is the dream of Atlanta
When her brothers are unified
Twenty-eight boxes of caps
At four dollars the gross...
This is wrong, this is wrong
I can fix this. Wait...
Nine more boxes in back
Twenty-eight minus nine...
And then thirty-one girls on the line
Suit and a tie... times six, one eighty-six...
Terribly quiet... divide, seven-sixty...
Quite a well-paid position...
God, all the noise, and on
Yontiff yet...
"Go on, lucille! Four cents a girl for the week...
Bring him his coffee! At ten cents an hour...
Straight from New York, Lucille!
Isn't he smart, Lucille?"
Mama, he's comin' around today
Mama, he's at the door!
Mama, I don't know what I should say...
"Well, what are you waitin' for, Lucille?"
What am I waitin' for?
This is wrong, this is wrong
It's an eight, not a six...
House and a maid
Two sets of China
Ev'rything I was wishin'
New winter coat
Real ermine collar
Who would have known, Lucille?
Married so well, Lucille!
How can he want me, so plain, so prim?
How can he be so sure?
Don't I wish I could be sure like him
Like Leo?
Yes, Lucille, I am building a life for us
For Leo?
No, Lucille, we cannot have a picnic!
Didn't my wishes come true for me
The day he walked through the door?
Isn't he all that I knew he'd be?
Brilliant and filled with humility?
Loyal and stable as any tree?
So why do I wait for more?
What am I waiting for?
Twenty-three cartons of leads, at two-sixty the gross...
This is wrong, this is wrong, I can fix this...
Hey
Yes?
I came for my pay
Name?
Mary Phagan
