Lin-Manuel Miranda

Released: February 17, 2015

Featuring: Leslie Odom Jr. Isaiah Johnson Renée Elise Goldsberry Phillipa Soo Daveed Diggs Okieriete Onaodowan Anthony Ramos Ciara Renee

Songwriter: Lin-Manuel Miranda

Producer: Lin-Manuel Miranda

[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?

[LAURENS]
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

[JEFFERSON]
And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted
Away across the waves, our Hamilton 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

[MADISON]
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

[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 is gonna know your name. What’s your name man?”

[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]
When he was ten his father split, full of shit, 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

[WASHINGTON]
Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide
Left him with nothing but ruined pride, something new inside
A voice saying

[COMPANY]
"Alex, you gotta fend for yourself."

[WASHINGTON]
He started retreatin’ and readin’ every treatise on the shelf

[BURR]
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

[BURR] [COMPANY] Scammin' for every book he could get his Scammin' hands on Plannin' for the future see him now as he Plannin' stands on Oooh [BURR]
The bow of a ship headed for a new land
In New York you can be a new man

[COMPANY] [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!
[COMPANY]
In New York you can be a new man—

[WOMEN]
In New York—

[MEN]
In New York—

[HAMILTON]
Just you wait!

[ALL WOMEN] [ALL MEN] Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton We are waiting in the wings for you Waiting in the wings for you [COMPANY]
You could never back down
You never learned to take your
Time!

[ALL WOMEN]
Oh, Alexander Hamilton

[ALL MEN]
Alexander Hamilton

[COMPANY]
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]
The ship is in the harbor now
See if you can spot him

[MEN]
Just you wait!

[BURR]
Another immigrant
Comin’ up from the bottom

[COMPANY]
Just you wait!

[BURR]
His enemies destroyed his rep
America forgot him
And me?
I’m the damn fool that shot him...

[COMPANY]
Wait!

Gunshot

[COMPANY]
Alexander Hamilton!

Lin-Manuel Miranda is an award-winning American writer, composer, playwright, and actor. He created and starred in two hit musicals, In the Heights and Hamilton (2015), an epic adaptation of Ron Chernow’s biography of the American founding father. Miranda also co-wrote the music and lyrics for Disney’s Moana (2016). The film’s main theme, “How Far I’ll Go”, was nominated for the 2017 Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Personally, Miranda has received a Pulitzer Prize for Drama (Hamilton), three Tony Awards (Best Original Score for both ITH and Hamilton, Best Book of a Musical for Hamilton), two Grammys (Best Musical Theatre Album ITH, Hamilton), and an Emmy (Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for “Bigger”). He was the recipient of the 2015 MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant”. He has a star on the Puerto Rican Walk of Fame and will receive a Hollywood star in 2018.

Awards for musicals

more tracks from the album

Hamilton: An American Musical (2014 Workshop)

From the album

Hamilton: An American Musical (2014 Workshop) (2015)

Lin-Manuel Miranda popular songs

Alexander Hamilton (2014 Workshop)Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Hamilton: An American Musical (2014 Workshop)