(This opening song, sung by Jeannie, the heroine of the show, depicts the weariness felt by a department store sales employee at the end of a long and harrowing day. It is interrupted by voice interludes, as shown).

Verse:

The hands of the clock must have tired old feet,
And six o'clock is dragging down a long, long street.
Too much time between "tick" and "tock" -
Too many hours on the face of the clock.
From my head to my toe -
(And especially my toe),
Whatever the clock says,
There's one thing I know:

Chorus:

How long the day?
How far off can the night be?
How soon the hours that I might be
Away from -
The customer is always right!   (Voice)
Away from -
To serve you is our one delight!   (Voice)
How long the day?

How long the day?
When will the sun's afternoon beams
Give way to evening's first moonbeams?
Away from -
The bargains in the bargain basement.   (Voice)
Away from -
The stock that always needs replacement.   (Voice)
How long the day?

There's music in a quiet room -
There's magic in a chair -
How swell the change of pace is!

There's sweetness in a section manager
Who isn't there,
And such bliss in untying shoe laces.

How long the day?
The five o'clock shadow's around me.
The hands of the clock still surround me
With -
First floor - grand pianos, cut-rate thimbles,   (Voice)
Belgian hats and French cravats and Turkish cymbals -   (Voice)
All the little things that Macy's won't tell Gimbel's -   (Jeannie)
How long the day?