How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whoreAnd a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgottenSpot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalorGrow up to be a hero and a scholar?
The ten-dollar Founding Father without a fatherGot a lot farther by working a lot harderBy being a lot smarter, by being a self-starterBy 14, they placed him in charge of a trading charter
And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and cartedAway across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard upInside, he was longing for something to be a part ofThe brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter
Then a hurricane came, and devastation reignedOur man saw his future drip, dripping down the drainPut a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brainAnd 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, andThe world's gonna know your name, what's your name, man?"
Alexander HamiltonMy name is Alexander HamiltonAnd there's a million things I haven't doneBut just you wait, just you wait
When he was ten, his father split, full of it, debt-riddenTwo years later, see Alex and his mother bed-riddenHalf-dead, sittin' in their own sick, the scent thickAnd Alex got better but his mother went quick
Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicideLeft him with nothin' but ruined pride, something new insideA voice saying, Alex, you gotta fend for yourselfHe started retreatin' and readin' every treatise on the shelf
There would have been nothin' left to doFor someone less astuteHe woulda been dead or destituteWithout a cent of restitutionStarted workin', clerkin' for his late mother's landlordTradin' sugar cane and rum and all the things he can't affordScammin' for every book he can get his hands onPlannin' for the future, see him now as he stands onThe bow of a ship headed for a new landIn 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 manIn New York! (New York)Just you wait!
Alexander Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)We are waiting in the wings for you (waiting in the wings for you)You could never back downYou never learned to take your time!
Oh, Alexander Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)When America sings for youWill 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 nowSee if you can spot him (just you wait)Another immigrantComin' up from the bottom (just you wait)His enemies destroyed his repAmerica forgot him
We fought with himMe? I died for himMe? I trusted himMe? I loved himAnd me? I'm the damn fool that shot him
There's a million things I haven't doneBut just you wait!What's your name, man?Alexander Hamilton!