Hamilton Lyrics

Alexander Hamilton

[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 workin' a lot harder

By bein' a lot smarter

By bein' 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, drippin' 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

[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

[COMPANY]

And Alex got better but his mother went quick

[GEORGE WASHINGTON and (COMPANY)]

Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide

Left him with nothin' but ruined pride, somethin' new inside

A voice saying "Alex you gotta fend for yourself"

He started retreatin' and readin' every treatise on the shelf

[BURR and (COMPANY)]

There would've been nothin' left to do

For someone less astute

He would've been dead or destitute

Without a cent of restitution

Started workin', clerkin' for his late mother's landlord

Tradin' sugar cane and rum and other 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 (oooh)

The bow of a ship headed for a new land

In New York you can be a new man

[COMPANY and (HAMILTON)]

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

[WOMEN]

In New York

[MEN]

New York

[HAMILTON]

Just you wait

[COMPANY and (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 and (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 AND LAFAYETTE/JEFFERSON]

We fought with him

[LAURENS/PHILLIP]

Me? I died for him

[WASHINGTON]

Me? I trusted him

[ANGELICA SCHUYLER, ELIZA, MARIA REYNOLDS]

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?

[HAMILTON & COMPANY]

Alexander Hamilton!