Lights up on Aaron Burr & the company 2
AARON 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?
JOHN LAURENS: The ten-dollar founding father without a father 3
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
THOMAS JEFFERSON: And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted
Away across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up 4
Inside, he was longing for something to be a part of
The brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter
JAMES 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 5
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's gonna know your name. What’s your name, man?
ALEXANDER HAMILTON: Alexander Hamilton
My name is Alexander Hamilton 6
And there’s a million things I haven’t done
But just you wait, just you wait...
ELIZA HAMILTON: 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
FULL COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON) (WHISPERING)
And Alex got better but his mother went quick
GEORGE WASHINGTON: Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide
Left him with nothin' but ruined pride, something new inside voice saying
Alex, you gotta fend for yourself
He started retreatin' and readin' every treatise on the shelf
COMPANY: Alex, you gotta fend for yourself
BURR: There would have been nothin' left to do 7
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
COMPANY:
In New York you can be a new man --
In New York you can be a new man --
HAMILTON:
Just you wait!
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!
COMPANY: 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 your game? 8
The world will never be the same, oh
BURR: 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
MULLIGAN, LAFAYETTE: We fought with him 9
LAURENS: Me, I died for him
WASHINGTON: Me, I trusted him
ELIZA, ANGELICA, MARIA REYNOLDS: Me, I loved him
BURR: And me, I’m the damn fool that shot him
COMPANY: There’s a million things I haven’t done
But just you wait
BURR: What’s your name, man?
COMPANY: Alexander Hamilton
- 1. Before we even begin, a musical note. The Piano riff that begins this show is actually inspired by a beat I made. I wanted the sound of a door slamming as the downbeat, and in my computer music program I grabbed a sound file called "Door Wood Speak." The sound of the wood squeak was so compelling I set it to notes. Hence the openning riff. Okay. Lets keep going.
- 2. This was originally Written as a Burr monoogue, when Hamilton was still a "concept album" in my head. It wasn't until we realized we were writing a musical that we began to divvy up the monologue among the people who bore witness to Hamilton's life. This owes a debt to the prologue of Sweeny Todd: All our characters set the stage for our main man's entrance.
- 3. It's up to the Treasury Department whether we get to keep this lyric or ont. As of this printing, Hamilton's the dude on the $10 bill.
- 4. At the top of every musical, it's essential to establish the world. Hamilton's early life was marked by trauma and a firsthand view of the brutal practices of the slave trade.
- 5. This is a beautiful letter. Look it up. My favorite phrase in it is that the sceen was "sufficient to strike astonishment into angels"
- 6. From the very beginning, this was how I sang his name. It's an ebsurdly musical name.
- 7. We double the tempo here because Hamilton's found his way out: He's going to double down on his education, and make himself undeniable. The image in my head is of Harry Potter finding out he's a wizard. Everything suddenly makes sense.
- 8. Those who have seen my White House performance will note that these lyrics used to be "In our cowardice and our shame, we will try to destroy your name." Over the course of the show's development, we realized that the story would be told not only by his enemies but by his friends and loved ones. Friend or fore, they're in awe of him
- 9. Of course, the actors who play Mulligan and Lafayette fight with him as friends in Act One, and fight with him as his enemies, Madison and Jefferson in Act Two. It's also true of Laurens/Philip, who "dies for him" in both acts. I was very proud of myself for the double meanings in this section, hence this note.