Lyrics
[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, âThis kid is insane, manâ
Took up a collection just to send him to the mainland
âGet your education, donât forget from whence you came, and
The world's gonna know your name. Whatâs your name, man?â
[ALEXANDER HAMILTON]
Alexander Hamilton
My name is Alexander Hamilton
And thereâs a million things I havenât 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
[FULL COMPANY EXCEPT HAMILTON (whispering)]
And Alex got better but his mother went quick
[GEORGE WASHINGTON]
Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide
Left him with nothinâ but ruined pride, something new inside
A voice saying
[WASHINGTON]
âYou gotta fend for yourself.â[COMPANY]
âAlex, you gotta fend for yourself.â
[WASHINGTON]
He started retreatinâ and readinâ every treatise on the shelf
[BURR]
There would have been nothinâ left to do
For someone less astute
He woulda been dead or destitute
Without a cent of restitution
Started workinâ, clerkinâ for his late motherâs landlord
Tradinâ sugar cane and rum and all the things he canât afford
Scamminâ for every book he can get his hands on
Planninâ for the future see him now as he stands on
The bow of a ship headed for a new land
In New York you can be a new man
[COMPANY]
Scamminâ
Planninâ
Oooh...
[COMPANY]
In New York you can
Be a new manâ
In New York you can
Be a new manâ[HAMILTON]
Just you wait!
Just you wait!
[COMPANY]
In New York you can be a new manâ
[WOMEN]
In New Yorkâ
[MEN]
New Yorkâ
[HAMILTON]
Just you wait!
[COMPANY]
Alexander Hamilton
We are waiting in the wings for you
You could never back down
You never learned to take your time!
Oh, 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]
The ship is in the harbor now
See if you can spot him
Another immigrant
Cominâ up from the bottom
His enemies destroyed his rep
America forgot him
[COMPANY]
Alexander Hamilton
Waiting in the wings for you
You never learned to take your time!
Oh, Alexander Hamilton
Alexander HamiltonâŚ
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
[MEN]
Just you wait
[COMPANY]
Just you wait
[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? Iâm the damn fool that shot him
[COMPANY]
Thereâs a million things I havenât done
But just you wait!
[BURR]
Whatâs your name, man?
[COMPANY]
Alexander Hamilton!
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, âThis kid is insane, manâ
Took up a collection just to send him to the mainland
âGet your education, donât forget from whence you came, and
The world's gonna know your name. Whatâs your name, man?â
[ALEXANDER HAMILTON]
Alexander Hamilton
My name is Alexander Hamilton
And thereâs a million things I havenât 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
[FULL COMPANY EXCEPT HAMILTON (whispering)]
And Alex got better but his mother went quick
[GEORGE WASHINGTON]
Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide
Left him with nothinâ but ruined pride, something new inside
A voice saying
[WASHINGTON]
âYou gotta fend for yourself.â[COMPANY]
âAlex, you gotta fend for yourself.â
[WASHINGTON]
He started retreatinâ and readinâ every treatise on the shelf
[BURR]
There would have been nothinâ left to do
For someone less astute
He woulda been dead or destitute
Without a cent of restitution
Started workinâ, clerkinâ for his late motherâs landlord
Tradinâ sugar cane and rum and all the things he canât afford
Scamminâ for every book he can get his hands on
Planninâ for the future see him now as he stands on
The bow of a ship headed for a new land
In New York you can be a new man
[COMPANY]
Scamminâ
Planninâ
Oooh...
[COMPANY]
In New York you can
Be a new manâ
In New York you can
Be a new manâ[HAMILTON]
Just you wait!
Just you wait!
[COMPANY]
In New York you can be a new manâ
[WOMEN]
In New Yorkâ
[MEN]
New Yorkâ
[HAMILTON]
Just you wait!
[COMPANY]
Alexander Hamilton
We are waiting in the wings for you
You could never back down
You never learned to take your time!
Oh, 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]
The ship is in the harbor now
See if you can spot him
Another immigrant
Cominâ up from the bottom
His enemies destroyed his rep
America forgot him
[COMPANY]
Alexander Hamilton
Waiting in the wings for you
You never learned to take your time!
Oh, Alexander Hamilton
Alexander HamiltonâŚ
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
[MEN]
Just you wait
[COMPANY]
Just you wait
[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? Iâm the damn fool that shot him
[COMPANY]
Thereâs a million things I havenât done
But just you wait!
[BURR]
Whatâs your name, man?
[COMPANY]
Alexander Hamilton!