[AARON BURR]
How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a
Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten
Spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalor Grow up to be a hero and a scholar?
[JOHN LAURENS]
The ten-dollar Founding Father without a father Got a lot farther by working a lot harder
By being a lot smarter
By being a self-starter
By fourteen, they placed him in charge of a trading charter
[THOMAS JEFFERSON]
And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted Away across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up Inside, he was longing for something to be a part of
The brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter
[JAMES MADISON]
Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned Our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain And he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain
[BURR]
Well, the word got around, they said, “This kid is insane, man” Took up a collection just to send him to the mainland
“Get your education, don’t forget from whence you came, and The world's gonna know your name. What’s your name, man?”
[ALEXANDER HAMILTON]
Alexander Hamilton
My name is Alexander Hamilton
And there's a million things I haven't done But just you wait, just you wait...
SONG LYRICS
Alexander Hamilton
[ELIZA HAMILTON]
When he was ten his father split, full of it, debt-ridden Two years later, see Alex and his mother bed-ridden Half-dead sittin' in their own sick, the scent thick
[FULL COMPANY EXCEPT HAMILTON (whispering)]
And Alex got better but his mother went quick
[GEORGE WASHINGTON & COMPANY, BOTH]
Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide
Left him with nothin' but ruined pride, something new inside A voice saying
“Alex, you gotta fend for yourself.”
He started retreatin' and readin' every treatise on the shelf
[BURR & COMPANY, BOTH]
There would have been nothin’ left to do For someone less astute
He woulda been dead or destitute Without a cent of restitution
Started workin', clerkin' for his late mother's landlord
Tradin’ sugar cane and rum and all the things he can’t afford Scammin' for every book he can get his hands on
Plannin' for the future see him now as he stands on (ooh) The bow of a ship headed for a new land
In New York you can be a new man
[COMPANY & HAMILTON, WOMEN, MEN]
In New York you can be a new man (Just you wait) In New York you can be a new man (Just you wait) In New York you can be a new man
In New York, New York
Just you wait!
[COMPANY]
Alexander Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)
We are waiting in the wings for you (waiting in the wings for you) You could never back down
You never learned to take your time!
Oh, Alexander Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)
When America sings for you
Will they know what you overcame?
Will they know you rewrote the game?
The world will never be the same, oh
[BURR, MEN, & COMPANY]
The ship is in the harbor now See if you can spot him
Just you wait
Another immigrant
Comin’ up from the bottom Just you wait
His enemies destroyed his rep America forgot him
[MULLIGAN/MADISON & LAFAYETTE/JEFFERSON]
We fought with him
[LAURENS/PHILIP]
Me? I died for him
[WASHINGTON]
Me? I trusted him
[ELIZA & ANGELICA & PEGGY/MARIA]
Me? I loved him
[BURR]
And me? I'm the damn fool that shot him
[COMPANY]
There's a million things I haven’t done But just you wait!
[BURR]
What's your name, man?
[COMPANY]
Alexander Hamilton!
By Ezra