Bm
How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a
F#
Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a
G
Forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence
D
Impoverished, in squalor
Bb°
Grow up to be a hero and a scholar?
Bm
The ten-dollar founding father without a father
F#
Got a lot farther by working a lot harder
G
By being a lot smarter
By being a self-starter
D Bb°
By fourteen, they placed him in charge of a trading charter
Bm
And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted
F#
Away across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up
G
Inside he was longing for something to be a part of
D Bb°
The brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter
Bm
Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned
F#
Our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain
G
Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain
D F#4 F#
And he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain
Bm
Well the word got around, they said, "This kid is insane, man"
F#
Took up a collection just to send him to the mainland
G
"Get your education, don't forget from whence you came
D Bb°
And the world is gonna know your name." What's your name, man?
Bm
Alexander Hamilton
F#
My name is Alexander Hamilton
G
And there's a million things I haven't done
D F#
But just you wait, just you wait
Bm
When he was ten his father split, full of it, debt-ridden
F# G
Two years later, see Alex and his mother bed-ridden half-dead
Sittin' in their own sick, the scent thick
And Alex got better but his mother went quick
Bm
Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide
F#
Left him with nothin' but ruined pride, something new inside
G
A voice saying
"You gotta fend for yourself"
"Alex, you gotta fend for yourself"
D Bb°
He started retreatin' and readin' every treatise on the shelf
Bm
There would have been nothing left to do
For someone less astute, he woulda been
F#
Dead or destitute without a sense of restitution
G
Started workin', clerkin' for his late mother's landlord
D Bb°
Tradin' sugarcane and rum and all the things he can't afford
Bm
Scannin' for every book he can get his hands on
F#
Plannin' for the future see him now as he stands on
G
The bow of a ship headed for a new land
D Bb°
In New York you can be a new man
Bm
In New York you can
Be a new man
Just you wait
G7
In New York you can
Be a new man
Just you wait
Em9
In New York you can
Be a new man
F#
In New York--
New York
Just you wait!
Bm
Alexander Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)
G7
We are waiting in the wings for you
(waiting in the wings for you)
Em
You could never back down
F#
You never learned to take your time
Bm
Oh, Alexander Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)
G7
When America sings for you
Em
Will they know what you overcame?
D Em
Will they know you rewrote the game?
Bm/F# Em/G D/A F#7/A#
The world will never be the same, oh
Bm
The ship is in the harbor now
Bm/C#
See if you can spot him
Just you wait
Bm/D
Another immigrant
Em
Comin' up from the bottom
Just you wait
Em/G
His enemies destroyed his rep
Em/C#
America forgot him
F#4 F#
We fought with him
F#4 F#
Me? I died for him
Bm9/F# F#
Me? I trusted him
Em6/F# F#
Me? I loved him
F#
And me? I'm the damn fool that shot him
Em/G D
There's a million things I haven't done
Em6/F#
But just you wait!
F#7
What's your name, man?
Bm
Alexander Hamilton!
( Bm )
