Lin-Manuel Miranda
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Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore And a scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot In the...

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Page type: lyric reference Artist: Lin-Manuel Miranda Canonical path: /lin-manuel-miranda/alexander-hamilton Related lyric paths: 6 Video embedded: yes
Lyrics

Alexander Hamilton

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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 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 is 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

Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide

Left him with nothin' but ruined pride, something

New inside

A voice saying

You gotta fend for yourself

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?

In new york you can

Be a new man?

Just you wait!

Just you wait!

In new york you can be a new man?

In new york?

New york?

Just you wait!

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

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

Another immigrant

Comin? Up from the bottom

His enemies destroyed his rep

America forgot him

Alexander hamilton

Waiting in the wings for you

You never learned to take your time!

Oh, alexander hamilton

Alexander hamilton?

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

Just you wait

Just you wait

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!

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Who performs "Alexander Hamilton"?

Lin-Manuel Miranda performs "Alexander Hamilton", and this lyric page sits inside the Lin-Manuel Miranda catalog on LyroVerse.

Are there related songs to explore after "Alexander Hamilton"?

Yes. The related section below points to (Underneath The) Lovely London Sky and 96,000 with a short reason for opening each page next.

Where can I find more songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda?

Use the artist link near the top of the page or the related paths section below to keep moving through Lin-Manuel Miranda's lyric pages.

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