“My Shot” from Hamilton

H. I am not throwing away my shot! All Shot! I am not throwing away my shot! L But we’ll never be truly free until those Hey yo, I’m just like my country, In bondage have the same rights as you and me. I’m young, scrappy and hungry, You and I Do or die. Wait till I sally in on a stallion An I’m not throwing away my shot! With the first black battalion. I’m-a get a scholarship to King’s College, Have another I prob’ly shouldn’t brag, but dag, All Shot! I amaze and astonish B Geniuses, lower your voices. You keep out of The problem is I got a lot of brains but no polish Trouble and you double your choices. I gotta holler just to be heard. I’m with you, but the situation is fraught. With every word, I drop knowledge! You’ve got to be carefully taught: I’m a diamond in the rough, If you talk, you’re gonna get shot! A shiny piece of coal tryin’ to reach my goal. H Burr, check what we got. Mister Lafayette, My power of speech: unimpeachable. Hard rock like Lancelot. Only nineteen but my mind is older. I think your pants look hot, Laurens, These New York City streets get colder, I like you a lot. I shoulder ev’ry burden, ev’ry Let’s hatch a plot blacker than the kettle callin’ the pot. disadvantage I have learned to manage, What are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot I don’t have a gun to brandish, A bunch of revolutionary manumission abolitionists? I walk these streets famished. Give me a position, show me where the ammunition is! The plan is to fan this spark into a flame. Oh, am I talkin’ too loud? But dang, it’s getting dark Sometimes I get overexcited, shoot off at the mouth, So let me spell out the name, I never had a group of friends before, All I am the A-L E-X A-N D E-R I promise that I’ll make y’all proud. We are meant to be L Let’s get this guy in front of a crowd. H. a colony that runs independently. H I am not throwing away my shot! Meanwhile Britain keeps spittin’ on us endlessly. I am not throwing away my shot! Essentially, they tax us relentlessly, Hey yo, I’m just like my country, Then King George turns around, I’m young, scrappy and hungry, Runs a spending spree. An I’m not throwing away my shot! He ain’t ever gonna set his descendants free, I am not throwing away my shot! So there will be a revolution in this century. I am not throwing away my shot! Enter me! Hey yo, I’m just like my country, M/L/Lf He says in parentheses I’m young, scrappy and hungry, H. Don’t be shocked when your hist’ry book mentions me. An I’m not throwing away my shot! I will lay down my life if it sets us free. L Ev’rybody sing: Eventually, you’ll see my ascendancy, Hey! Wooh! And I am not throwing away my shot. Ay, let ‘em hear ya! Let’s go! L My Shot! I said, shout it to the rooftops! H. I am not throwing away my shot Said , to the rooftops! L My Shot! Come on! Come on, let’s go! H Hey yo I’m just like my country, L (sings) Rise up! I’m young scrappy and hungry When you’re living on your knees you rise up. All and I’m not throwing away my shot. Tell your brother that he’s gotta rise up. H/L I am not throwing away my shot, Tell your sister that she’s gotta rise up. I am not throwing away my shot L/Lf/M When are these colonies gonna rise up? Hey yo, I’m just like my country, When are these colonies gonna rise up? I’m young, scrappy and hungry, When are these colonies gonna rise up? And I’m not throwing away my shot. When are these colonies gonna rise up? All It’s time to take a shot! Rise up? Lf I dream of life without a monarchy. H I imagine death so mich it feels more like a memory. The unrest in France will lead to ‘onarchy? When’s it gonna get me? ‘Onarchy? How you say, how you say, In my sleep? Seven feet ahead of me? “Anarchy?” If I see it comin’, do I run or do I let it be? When I fight, I make the other side panicky with my Is it like a beat without a melody? All Shot! See, I never thought I’d live past twenty. M Yo, I’m a tailor’s apprentice, and I got y’all Where I come from some get half as many. Knuckleheads in loco parentis. Ask anybody why we livin’ fast and we laugh, I’m joining the rebellion ‘cause I know it’s my chance Reach for a flask To socially advance, We have to make this moment last, that’s plenty. Instead of sewin’ some pants! Scratch that, this in not a moment, it’s the movement I’m gonna take a Where all the hungriest brothers with something To prove went?

H-Hamilton, L-Laurens, Lf-Lafayette, M-Mulligan, B-Burr, All – all but Burr

Foes oppose us, we take an honest stand, we roll like Moses, claimin’ our promised land. And? If we win out independence? ‘Zat a guarantee of freedom for our descendents? Or will the blood we shed begin an endless cycle Of vengeance and death with no defendants? I know the action in the street is excitin’, But Jesus between all the bleedin’ an fightin’ I’ve been readin’ and writin’ We need to handle our financial situation. Are we a nation of states? What’s the state of our nation? I’, past patiently waitin’ I’m passionately smashin’ every expectation Ev’ry action’s an act of creation. I’m laughin’ in the face of casualties and sorrow. For the first time, I’m thinkin’ past tomorrow, And I am not throwing away my shot. I am not throwing away my shot! Hey yo, I’m just like my country, I’m young, scrappy and hungry, An I’m not throwing away my shot! H/L/Lf/M We’re gonna rise up! Time to take a shot! We’re gonna rise up! Time to take a shot! We’re gonna… H It’s time to take a shot! H/L/Lf/M It’s time to take a shot! It’s time to take a shot! Take a shot! Shot! Shot! A-yo, it’s time to take a shot! Time to take a shot! And I am not throwing away my, Not throwing away my shot!

H-Hamilton, L-Laurens, Lf-Lafayette, M-Mulligan, B-Burr, All – all but Burr