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?
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
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
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
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 is gonna know your name." What's your name, man?
Alexander Hamilton
My name is Alexander Hamilton
And there's a million things I haven't done
But just you wait, just you wait
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
Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide
Left him with nothin' but ruined pride, something new inside
A voice saying
He started retreatin' and readin' every treatise on the shelf
There would have been nothing left to do
For someone less astute, he woulda been
Dead or destitute without a sense of restitution
Started workin', clerkin' for his late mother's landlord
Tradin' sugarcane and rum and all the things he can't afford
Scannin' 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
In New York you can // (HAMILTON)
Be a new man // Just you wait
In New York you can // (HAMILTON)
Be a new man // Just you wait
In New York you can
Be a new man
In New York--
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
The ship is in the harbor now // (COMPANY)
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
We fought with him
Me? I died for him
Me? I trusted him
Me? I loved him
And me? I'm the damn fool that shot him
There's a million things I haven't done
But just you wait!
What's your name, man?
Alexander Hamilton!