Chapter Text
(A man appeared).
[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?
(Another man appeared).
[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.
(Another man appeared).
[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.
(Another man appeared).
[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.
[Burt]
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?"
(Another man appeared).
[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...
(A woman appeared).
[Eliza]
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.
[Company]
And Alex got better but his mother went quick.
(Another man appeared).
[Washington]
Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide.
Left him with nothin’ but ruined pride, something new inside, a voice saying,
[Washington and Ensemble]
"Alex, you gotta fend for yourself."
[Washington]
He started retreatin’ and readin’ every treatise on the shelf.
[Burr & Ensemble]
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’ sugarcane 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.
(Alexander was now on a ship pulling into New York Harbor).
[Ensemble, (Hamilton)]
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.
[Ensemble]
In New York—
New York—
[Hamilton]
Just you wait!
[Ensemble]
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.
[Burr, (Ensemble)]
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.
(Four men appeared).
[Lafayette, Mulligan, Jefferson, Madison]
We fought with him.
(Two men appeared).
[Laurens & Phillip]
Me? I died for him.
(A man appeared).
[Washington]
Me? I trusted him.
(Three women appeared).
[Angelica, Eliza, Maria]
Me? I loved him.
(The man from the beginning reappeared).
[Burr]
And me? I’m the damn fool that shot him (shot him, shot him).
[Ensemble]
There's a million things I haven't done,
But just you wait!
[Burr]
What’s your name, man?
[All]
Alexander Hamilton!