I am not throwing away my, shotI am not throwing away my, shotEyo, I'm just like my countryI'm young, scrappy an' hungryAnd I'm not throwing away my shot
I'mma get a scholarship to King's CollegeI probably shouldn't brag but dawg I amaze and astonishThe problem is I got a lot o' brains but no polishGotta holler just to be heardWith every word, I drop knowledge
I'm a diamond in the rough, a shining piece o' coalTryna reach my goal, my power of speech; unimpeachableOnly nineteen, but my mind is olderThese New York streets get colder, I shoulderEvery burden, every disadvantageI've learned to manageI don't have a gun to brandishI walk these streets famished
The plan is to fan this spark into a flameBut damn it's getting dark so let me spell out the nameI am theA-L, E-X, A-N, D! E-R, we are, meant to be!
A colony that runs independentlyMeanwhile Britain keeps shittin' on us endlesslyEssentially, they tax us relentlesslyThen King George turns around, runs a spending spreeHe ain't ever gonna set his descendants freeSo there will be a revolution in this centuryEnter me! (He says in parenthesis)Don't be shocked when your history book mentions meI will lay down my life if it sets us freeEventually, you'll see my ascendancy
And I am not throwing away my, shotI am not throwing away my, shotEyo, I'm just like my countryI'm young, scrappy and hungryAnd I'm not throwing away my shot
I am not throwing away my, shotI am not throwing away my, shotEyo, I'm just like my countryI'm young, scrappy and hungryAnd I'm not throwing away my shot
It's time to take a shot!
I dream of life without a monarchyThe unrest in France will lead to onarchyOnarchy? How you say, how you say?Oh-- anarchy!When I fight I make the other side panickyWith my shot!
Yo I'm a tailor's apprenticeAnd I got y'all knuckleheads in loco parentisI'm joining the rebellion'Cause I know it's my chanceTo socially advanceInstead of sowing some pantsI'm gon' take a shot!
Ey but we'll never be truly freeUntil those in bondage have the same rights as you and meYou and I, do or dieWait 'til I sally in on a stallionWith the first black battalionHave another shot!
Geniuses, lower your voicesYou keep out of trouble and you double your choicesI'm with you, but the situation is fraughtYou've got to be carefully taughtIf you talk, you're gonna get shot
Burr, check what we gotMr Lafayette, hard-rock like LancelotI think your pants look hotLaurens I like you a lotLet's hatch a plot blacker than the kettle calling the potWhat are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot?Pah, put a squat on conventional wisdom, like it or notA bunch of revolutionary manumission abolistionistsGive me a position show me where the ammunition is!
Oh am I talking too loud?Sometimes I get overexcitedShoot of at the mouth, I never had a group of friends beforeI promise that I'll make you all proud
Let's get this guy in front of a crowd!
And I am not throwing away my, shotI am not throwing away my, shotEyo, I'm just like my countryI'm young, scrappy and hungryAnd I'm not throwing away my shot
I am not throwing away my, shotI am not throwing away my, shotEyo, I'm just like my countryI'm young, scrappy and hungryAnd I'm not throwing away my shot
Everybody sing!
Whoa-whoa, whoa-oa-oa (ey!)Whoa-oa-oa (woo!)Whoa-oa-oa (Say let 'em hear ya!)Yeah (Let's go!)Whoa-whoa, whoa-oa-oa (I said shout it to the rooftops)Whoa-oa-oa (Said to the rooftops!)Whoa-oa-oa (Oh come on!)Yeah (Oh come on, let's go!)
Rise upWhen you're living on your knees, you rise upTell your brother that he's gotta rise upTell your sister that she's gotta rise upWhen are these colonies gonna rise up? (Whoa-whoa)When are these colonies gonna rise up? (Whoa-oa-oa)When are these colonies gonna rise up? (Whoa-oa-oa)When are these colonies gonna rise up? (Whoa-oa-oa)Rise up?
I imagine death so much it feels more like a memoryWhen's it gonna get me?In my sleep, seven feet ahead of me?If I see it coming do I run or do I let it be?Is it like a beat without a melody?
See I never thought I'd live past twentyWhere I come from some get half as manyAsk anybody, why we're living fastAnd we laugh, reach for a flaskWe have to make this moment lastThat's plenty
Scratch that, this is not a moment it's the movementWhere all the hungriest brothers with something to prove wentFoes oppose us, we take an honest standWe row like Moses, claiming our Promised LandAnd, if we win our independenceIs that a guarantee of freedom for our descendants?Or will the blood we shed begin an endlessCycle of vengeance and death, with no defendants?
I know the action in the street is excitingBut Jezus, between all the bleedin' and fightingI've been reading and writingWe need to handle our financial situationAre we nation of states?What's the state of our nation?
I'm past patiently waitingI'm passionately smashing every expectationEvery action's an act of creationI'm laughing in the face of casualties and sorrowFor the first time I'm thinking past tomorrow
And I am not throwing away my, shotI am not throwing away my, shotEyo, I'm just like my countryI'm young, scrappy and hungryAnd I'm not throwing away my shot
We're gonna rise up, time to take a shot (not throwing away my, shot)We're gonna rise up, time to take a shot (not throwing away my, shot)We're gonna rise up, rise upIt's time to take a shotRise up, rise upIt's time to take a shot
Rise up, it's time to take shot (whoa-oa-oa)Rise up, take a shot, shot, shot (whoa-oa-oa)Eyo it's time to take a shotTime to take a shotAnd I am not throwing away myNot throwing away my shot!