Lyrics Alexander Hamilton - Leslie Odom, Jr., Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan

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?
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 rained
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 ya 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 10, 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
And Alex got better but his mother went quick
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
There would've been nothin' left to do
For someone less astute
He would've been dead and 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
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 (x4) In New York (New York) Just you wait (x3)
Alexander Hamilton
We are waiting in the weeds for you
You could never back down
You never learned to take your time
Alexander Hamilton
America Sings for you
Do they know what you overcame
Do they know you control your name
The world will never be the same, oh
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
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
Whats ya name man?