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? The 10 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 14 they placed him in charge of a trading charter

And everyday while slaves were being slaughtered and carted away Across the waves, he struggled and 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 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 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 My name is Alexander Hamilton And there's a million thing I haven't done But just you wait, just you wait When he was 10, his father split, full of it, debt ridden 2 years later, see Alex and his mother bed-ridden Half-dead, sitting in their own sick, the scent thick And Alex got better but his mother went quick Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide Left him with nothing but ruined pride, something new inside A voice saying, "Alex you gotta fend for yourself" He started retreating and reading every treatise on the shelf

There woulda been nothing left to do for someone less astute He woulda been dead and destitute without a cent of restutition Started working, clerking for his late mother's landlord Trading sugar cane and rum and all the things he can't afford Scanning for every book he can get his hands on Planning 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 Just you wait (In New York you can be a new man) Just you wait In New York you can be a new man In New York (New York) Just you wait! Alexander Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton), we're waiting in the wings for you (waiting in the wings for you) You could never back down, you never learned to take your time Oh, Alexander Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton), when America sings for you Will they know what you overcame? Will they know you rewrote the game? The world will never be same, oh The ship is in the harbor now, see if you can spot him Another immigrant coming up from the bottom His en

enemies destroyed his rep America forgot him We fought with him Me? I died for him Me? I trusted him Me? I loved him And me? I'm the damn fool that shot him There's a million thing I haven't done But just you wait What's your name man? Alexander Hamilton!