Alexander Hamilton Lyrics - Leslie Odom, Jr.

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 

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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's 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 

And Alex got better but his mother went quick 

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Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide 

Left him with nothin' but ruined pride, something new inside 

A voice saying 

Alex, you gotta fend for yourself. 

He started retreatin' and readin' every treatise on the shelf 

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 

(In New York you can be a new man) 

Just you wait! 

(In New York you can be a new man) 

Just you wait! 

In New York you can be a new man 

In New York! 

(New York) 

Just you wait! 

Alexander Hamilton 

(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 

(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 

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!