AARON 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?
JOHN LAURENS: The ten-dollar Founding Father without a father Got a lot farther by workin’ a lot harder By bein’ a lot smarter By bein’ a self-starter By fourteen, they placed him in charge of a trading charter
THOMAS 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
JAMES MADISON: Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned Our man saw his future drip, drippin’ 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
BURR: 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: Alexander Hamilton My name is Alexander Hamilton And there’s a million things I haven’t done But just you wait, just you wait
ELIZA HAMILTON: 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
GEORGE WASHINGTON and (COMPANY): 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
BURR and (COMPANY): There would’ve been nothin’ left to do For someone less astute He would’ve been dead or 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 (Scammin’) for every book he can get his hands on (Plannin’) for the future, see him now as he stands on (oooh) The bow of a ship headed for a new land In New York you can be a new man
COMPANY and (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
WOMEN: In New York MEN: New York
HAMILTON: Just you wait
COMPANY and (COMPANY): 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 and (COMPANY): 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
MULLIGAN/MADISON AND LAFAYETTE/JEFFERSON: We fought with him
LAURENS/PHILLIP: Me? I died for him
WASHINGTON: Me? I trusted him
ANGELICA SCHUYLER, ELIZA, MARIA REYNOLDS: Me? I loved him
BURR: And me? I’m the damn fool that shot him
COMPANY: There’s a million things I haven’t done But just you wait