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

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?