[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... [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 nothin’ but ruined pride, something new inside A voice saying [WASHINGTON] “You gotta fend for yourself.” [COMPANY] “Alex, you gotta fend for yourself.” [WASHINGTON] He started retreatin’ and readin’ every treatise on the shelf [BURR] 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 The bow of a ship headed for a new land In New York you can be a new man [COMPANY] Scammin’ Plannin’ Oooh... [COMPANY] In New York you can Be a new man— In New York you can Be a new man— [HAMILTON] Just you wait! Just you wait! [COMPANY] In New York you can be a new man— [WOMEN] In New York— [MEN] New York— [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 Comin’ 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 Hamilton… 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? 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!.[COMPANY] 1776. New York City [HAMILTON] Pardon me. Are you Aaron Burr, sir? [BURR] That depends. Who’s asking? [HAMILTON] Oh, well, sure, sir I’m Alexander Hamilton, I’m at your service, sir I have been looking for you [BURR] I’m getting nervous [HAMILTON] Sir… I heard your name at Princeton. I was seeking an accelerated course of study when I got sort of out of sorts with a buddy of yours. I may have punched him. It’s a blur, sir. He handles the financials? [BURR] You punched the bursar [HAMILTON] Yes! I wanted to do what you did. Graduate in two, then join the revolution. He looked at me like I was stupid, I’m not stupid So how’d you do it? How’d you graduate so fast? [BURR] It was my parents’ dying wish before they passed [HAMILTON] You’re an orphan. Of course! I’m an orphan God, I wish there was a war! Then we could prove that we’re worth more Than anyone bargained for… [BURR] Can I buy you a drink? [HAMILTON] That would be nice [BURR] While we’re talking, let me offer you some free advice Talk less [HAMILTON] What? [BURR] Smile more [HAMILTON] Ha [BURR] Don’t let them know what you’re against or what you’re for [HAMILTON] You can’t be serious [BURR] You wanna get ahead? [HAMILTON] Yes [BURR] Fools who run their mouths off wind up dead [LAURENS] Yo yo yo yo yo! What time is it? [LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN] Show time! [BURR] Like I said… [LAURENS] Show time! Show time! Yo! I’m John Laurens in the place to be! Two pints o’ Sam Adams, but I’m workin’ on three, uh! Those redcoats don’t want it with me! Cuz I will pop chick-a pop these cops till I’m free! [LAFAYETTE] Oui oui, mon ami, je m’appelle Lafayette! The Lancelot of the revolutionary set! I came from afar just to say “Bonsoir!” Tell the King “Casse toi!” Who’s the best? C’est moi! [MULLIGAN] Brrrah brraaah! I am Hercules Mulligan Up in it, lovin’ it, yes I heard ya mother said “Come again?” [LAFAYETTE & LAURENS] Ayyyyy [MULLIGAN] Lock up ya daughters and horses, of course It’s hard to have intercourse over four sets of corsets… [LAFAYETTE] Wow [LAURENS] No more sex, pour me another brew, son! Let’s raise a couple more… [LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN] To the revolution! [LAURENS] Well, if it ain’t the prodigy of Princeton college! [MULLIGAN] Aaron Burr! [LAURENS] Give us a verse, drop some knowledge! [BURR] Good luck with that: you’re takin’ a stand You spit. I’m ‘a sit. We’ll see where we land [LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN] Boooo! [LAURENS] Burr, the revolution’s imminent. What do you stall for? [HAMILTON] If you stand for nothing, Burr, what’ll you fall for? [MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTE/LAURENS] Ooh Who you? Who you? Who are you? [MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTE/LAURENS] Ooh, who is this kid? What’s he gonna do?.HAMILTON I am not throwing away my shot! I am not throwing away my shot! Hey yo, I'm just like my country, I'm young, scrappy and hungry, and I'm not throwing away my shot! I'm ‘a get a scholarship to King's College. I prob'ly shouldn't brag, but dag, I amaze and astonish. The problem is I got a lot of brains but no polish. I gotta holler just to be heard. With every word, I drop knowledge! I'm a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal tryin' to reach my goal. My power of speech: unimpeachable. Only nineteen but my mind is older. These New York City streets get colder, I shoulder ev'ry burden, ev'ry disadvantage I have learned to manage, I don't have a gun to brandish, I walk these streets famished. The plan is to fan this spark into a flame. But damn, it's getting dark, so let me spell out the name, I am the— HAMILTON/LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN/ LAURENS A-l-e-x-a-n-d e-r—we are—meant to be... HAMILTON A colony that runs independently. Meanwhile, Britain keeps shittin' on us endlessly. Essentially, they tax us relentlessly, then King George turns around, runs a spending spree. He ain't ever gonna set his descendants free, so there will be a revolution in this century. Enter me! LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN/LAURENS (He says in parentheses) HAMILTON Don't be shocked when your hist'ry book mentions me. I will lay down my life if it sets us free. Eventually, you'll see my ascendancy, HAMILTON LAURENS And I am not throwing away my shot. My shot! I am not throwing away my shot. My shot! Hey yo, I'm just like my country, I'm young, scrappy and hungry and I'm not throwing away my shot. And I'm not throwing away my shot. HAMILTON/MULLIGAN/LAURENS/ LAFAYETTE I am not throwing away my shot. I am not throwing away my shot. Hey yo, I'm just like my country, I'm young, scrappy and hungry and I'm not throwing away my shot. It's time to take a shot! LAFAYETTE I dream of life without a monarchy. The unrest in France will lead to ‘onarchy? ‘Onarchy? How you say, how you say, ‘anarchy?' When I fight, I make the other side panicky. With my- HAMILTON/LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/ MULLIGAN Shot! MULLIGAN Yo, I'm a tailor's apprentice, and I got y'all knuckleheads in loco parentis. I'm joining the rebellion cuz I know it's my chance to socially advance, instead of sewin' some pants! I'm gonna take a- HAMILTON/LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/ MULLIGAN Shot! LAURENS But we'll never be truly free until those in bondage have the same rights as you and me, you and I. Do or die. Wait till I sally in on a stallion with the first black battalion have another- HAMILTON/LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/ MULLIGAN Shot! BURR Geniuses, lower your voices. You keep out of trouble and you double your choices. I'm with you, but the situation is fraught. You've got to be carefully taught: If you talk, you're gonna get shot! HAMILTON Burr, check what we got. Mister Lafayette, hard rock like Lancelot, I think your pants look hot, Laurens, I like you a lot. Let's hatch a plot blacker than the kettle callin' the pot... What are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot, poppin' a squat on conventional wisdom, like it or not, a bunch of revolutionary manumission abolitionists? Give me a position, show me where the ammunition is! Oh, am I talkin' too loud? Sometimes I get over excited, shoot off at the mouth. I never had a group of friends before, I promise that I'll make y'all proud. LAURENS Let's get this guy in front of a crowd. HAM/LAUR/LAF/MULL/ENSEMBLE I am not throwing away my shot. I am not throwing away my shot. Hey yo, I'm just like my country, I'm young, scrappy and hungry and I'm not throwing away my shot. I am not throwing away my shot. I am not throwing away my shot. Hey yo, I'm just like my country, I'm young, scrappy and hungry and I'm not throwing away my shot. LAURENS Ev'rybody sing: HAM/LAF/MULL Whoa, whoa, whoa Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Hey! Whoa! Whoa! Wooh!! Whoa! Whoa! Ay, let ‘em hear ya! Let's go! Yea! COMPANY I said shout it to the rooftops! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Said, to the rooftops! Whoa! Come on! Whoa! Come on, let's go! Yea! LAURENS Rise up! When you're living on your knees, you rise up. Tell your brother that he's gotta rise up. Tell your sister that she's gotta rise up. LAURENS AND ENSEMBLE When are these colonies gonna rise up? When are these colonies gonna rise up Whoa! Whoa! When are these colonies gonna rise up Whoa! When are these colonies gonna rise up? Whoa! Rise up! Rise up! HAMILTON I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory When's it gonna get me? In my sleep? Seven feet ahead of me? comin', do I run or do I let it be? Is it like a beat without a melody? See, I never thought I'd live past twenty. Where I come from some get half as many. Ask anybody why we livin' fast and we laugh, reach for a flask, we have to make this moment last, that's plenty. Scratch that, this is not a moment, it's the movement where all the hungriest brothers with something to prove went? Foes oppose us, we take an honest stand, we roll like Moses, claimin' our promised land. And? If we win our independence? ‘Zat a guarantee of freedom for our descendants? Or will the blood we shed begin an endless cycle of vengeance and death with no defendants? I know the action in the street is excitin', but Jesus, between all the bleedin' ‘n fightin' I've been readin' ‘n writin'. We need to handle our financial situation. Are we a nation of states? What's the state of our nation? I'm past patiently waitin'. I'm passionately smashin' every expectation, every action's an act of creation! I'm laughin' in the face of casualties and sorrow, for the first time, I'm thinkin' past tomorrow, HAMILTON AND COMPANY And I am not throwing away my shot. I am not throwing away my shot. Hey yo, I'm just like my country, I'm young, scrappy and hungry and I'm not throwing away my shot. HAMILTON/ LAURENS/ LAFAYETTE/ MULLIGAN We're gonna ENSEMBLE rise up! Time to take a shot! Not throwing away my shot. We're gonna rise up! Time to take a shot! Not throwing away my shot. We're gonna We're gonna rise up! Rise up! HAMILTON Time to take a shot! Rise up! Rise up! HAM/LAF/MULL/ LAUR Time to take a shot! Rise up! Rise up! Take a shot! Shot! Ri- ri- ri Shot! A-yo, it's time to take a shot! Time to take a shot! Time to take a shot! Time to take a shot! And I am– And I am– HAM/LAF/MULL/LAUR Not throwin' away my- COMPANY Not throwin' away my shot!
