Released: September 25, 2015
Songwriter: Khary Kimani Turner DJ Premier Lin-Manuel Miranda
Producer: Bill Sherman ?uestlove Black Thought Lin-Manuel Miranda Alex Lacamoire
[MALE COMPANY]
One two three four
[FULL COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON AND BURR)]
Five six seven eight nine—
[BURR]
There are ten things you need to know
[COMPANY]
Number one!
[BURR]
We rowed across the Hudson at dawn
My friend, William P. Van Ness signed on as my—
[BURR AND COMPANY]
Number two!
[BURR]
Hamilton arrived with his crew:
Nathaniel Pendleton and a doctor that he knew
[COMPANY]
Number three!
[BURR]
I watched Hamilton examine the terrain
I wish I could tell you what was happ’ning in his brain
This man has poisoned my political pursuits!
[COMPANY]
Most disputes die and no one shoots!
Number four!
[BURR]
Hamilton drew first position
Looking, to the world, like a man on a mission
This is a soldier with a marksman’s ability
The doctor turned around so he could have deniability
[COMPANY]
Five!
[BURR]
Now I didn’t know this at the time
But we were—
[BURR AND PHILIP & HAMILTON]
Near the same spot (Near the same spot)
Your son died, is that (My son died, is that)
Why—(Why—)
[COMPANY]
Six!
[BURR]
He examined his gun with such rigor?
I watched as he methodically fiddled with the trigger
[COMPANY]
Seven!
[BURR]
Confession time? Here’s what I got:
My fellow soldiers’ll tell you I’m a terrible shot
[COMPANY]
Number eight!
[BURR/HAMILTON/ENSEMBLE MEN]
Your last chance to negotiate
Send in your seconds, see if they can set the record straight
[BURR]
They won’t teach you this in your classes
But look it up, Hamilton was wearing his glasses
Why? If not to take deadly aim?
It’s him or me, the world will never be the same
I had only one thought before the slaughter:
This man will not make an orphan of my daughter
[COMPANY]
Number nine!
[BURR]
Look him in the eye, aim no higher
Summon all the courage you require
Then count:
[COMPANY]
One two three four five six seven eight nine
Number ten paces! Fire!—
[HAMILTON]
I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory
Is this where it gets me, on my feet, sev’ral feet ahead of me?
I see it coming, do I run or fire my gun or let it be?
There is no beat, no melody
Burr, my first friend, my enemy
Maybe the last face I ever see
If I throw away my shot, is this how you’ll remember me?
What if this bullet is my legacy?
Legacy. What is a legacy?
It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see
I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me
America, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me
You let me make a difference
A place where even orphan immigrants
Can leave their fingerprints and rise up
I’m running out of time. I’m running, and my time’s up
Wise up. Eyes up
I catch a glimpse of the other side
Laurens leads a soldiers’ chorus on the other side
My son is on the other side
He’s with my mother on the other side
Washington is watching from the other side
Teach me how to say goodbye
Rise up, rise up, rise up
Eliza
My love, take your time
I’ll see you on the other side
Raise a glass to freedom...
[BURR AND COMPANY]
He aims his pistol at the sky—
[BURR]
Wait!
[BURR]
I strike him right between his ribs
I walk towards him, but I am ushered away
They row him back across the Hudson
I get a drink
[COMPANY]
Aaaah
Aaaah
Aaaah
[BURR]
I hear wailing in the streets
[COMPANY]
Aaaah
Aaaah
Aaaah
[BURR]
Somebody tells me, “You’d better hide.”
[COMPANY]
Aaaah
Aaaah
Aaaah
[BURR]
They say
[BURR AND ANGELICA]
Angelica and Eliza—
[BURR]
Were both at his side when he died
Death doesn’t discriminate
Between the sinners and the saints
It takes and it takes and it takes
History obliterates
In every picture it paints
It paints me and all my mistakes
When Alexander aimed
At the sky
He may have been the first one to die
But I’m the one who paid for it
I survived, but I paid for it
Now I’m the villain in your history
I was too young and blind to see...
I should’ve known
I should’ve known
The world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me
The world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me
One two three four
[FULL COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON AND BURR)]
Five six seven eight nine—
[BURR]
There are ten things you need to know
[COMPANY]
Number one!
[BURR]
We rowed across the Hudson at dawn
My friend, William P. Van Ness signed on as my—
[BURR AND COMPANY]
Number two!
[BURR]
Hamilton arrived with his crew:
Nathaniel Pendleton and a doctor that he knew
[COMPANY]
Number three!
[BURR]
I watched Hamilton examine the terrain
I wish I could tell you what was happ’ning in his brain
This man has poisoned my political pursuits!
[COMPANY]
Most disputes die and no one shoots!
Number four!
[BURR]
Hamilton drew first position
Looking, to the world, like a man on a mission
This is a soldier with a marksman’s ability
The doctor turned around so he could have deniability
[COMPANY]
Five!
[BURR]
Now I didn’t know this at the time
But we were—
[BURR AND PHILIP & HAMILTON]
Near the same spot (Near the same spot)
Your son died, is that (My son died, is that)
Why—(Why—)
[COMPANY]
Six!
[BURR]
He examined his gun with such rigor?
I watched as he methodically fiddled with the trigger
[COMPANY]
Seven!
[BURR]
Confession time? Here’s what I got:
My fellow soldiers’ll tell you I’m a terrible shot
[COMPANY]
Number eight!
[BURR/HAMILTON/ENSEMBLE MEN]
Your last chance to negotiate
Send in your seconds, see if they can set the record straight
[BURR]
They won’t teach you this in your classes
But look it up, Hamilton was wearing his glasses
Why? If not to take deadly aim?
It’s him or me, the world will never be the same
I had only one thought before the slaughter:
This man will not make an orphan of my daughter
[COMPANY]
Number nine!
[BURR]
Look him in the eye, aim no higher
Summon all the courage you require
Then count:
[COMPANY]
One two three four five six seven eight nine
Number ten paces! Fire!—
[HAMILTON]
I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory
Is this where it gets me, on my feet, sev’ral feet ahead of me?
I see it coming, do I run or fire my gun or let it be?
There is no beat, no melody
Burr, my first friend, my enemy
Maybe the last face I ever see
If I throw away my shot, is this how you’ll remember me?
What if this bullet is my legacy?
Legacy. What is a legacy?
It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see
I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me
America, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me
You let me make a difference
A place where even orphan immigrants
Can leave their fingerprints and rise up
I’m running out of time. I’m running, and my time’s up
Wise up. Eyes up
I catch a glimpse of the other side
Laurens leads a soldiers’ chorus on the other side
My son is on the other side
He’s with my mother on the other side
Washington is watching from the other side
Teach me how to say goodbye
Rise up, rise up, rise up
Eliza
My love, take your time
I’ll see you on the other side
Raise a glass to freedom...
[BURR AND COMPANY]
He aims his pistol at the sky—
[BURR]
Wait!
[BURR]
I strike him right between his ribs
I walk towards him, but I am ushered away
They row him back across the Hudson
I get a drink
[COMPANY]
Aaaah
Aaaah
Aaaah
[BURR]
I hear wailing in the streets
[COMPANY]
Aaaah
Aaaah
Aaaah
[BURR]
Somebody tells me, “You’d better hide.”
[COMPANY]
Aaaah
Aaaah
Aaaah
[BURR]
They say
[BURR AND ANGELICA]
Angelica and Eliza—
[BURR]
Were both at his side when he died
Death doesn’t discriminate
Between the sinners and the saints
It takes and it takes and it takes
History obliterates
In every picture it paints
It paints me and all my mistakes
When Alexander aimed
At the sky
He may have been the first one to die
But I’m the one who paid for it
I survived, but I paid for it
Now I’m the villain in your history
I was too young and blind to see...
I should’ve known
I should’ve known
The world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me
The world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me
more tracks from the album
Hamilton: An American Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
- The Story of Tonight (Reprise)
- The World Was Wide Enough
- Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story
- The Schuyler Sisters
- What’d I Miss
- Non-Stop
- Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)
- History Has Its Eyes on You
- Guns and Ships
- That Would Be Enough
- Your Obedient Servant
- It’s Quiet Uptown
- Stay Alive (Reprise)
- Take a Break
- Say No to This
- The Room Where It Happens
- Right Hand Man
- Cabinet Battle #2
- Schuyler Defeated
- The Reynolds Pamphlet
- Burn
- Blow Us All Away
- Meet Me Inside
- Ten Duel Commandments
- Alexander Hamilton
- Cabinet Battle #1
- Aaron Burr, Sir
- The Election of 1800
- You’ll Be Back
- Washington On Your Side
- Best of Wives and Best of Women
- Wait For It
- Farmer Refuted
- One Last Time
- I Know Him
- What Comes Next?
- Stay Alive
- Hurricane
- We Know
- The Adams Administration
- A Winter’s Ball
- Satisfied
- The Story of Tonight
- Dear Theodosia
- Helpless
- My Shot
From the album
Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton” popular songs