In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
British Admiral Howe's got troops on the water
Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor
Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor
When they surround our troops
They surround our troops
When they surround our troops
As a kid in the Caribbean I wished for a war
I knew that I was poor
I knew it was the only way to
Rise up
If they tell my story
I am either gonna die on the battlefield in glory or
Rise up
We will fight for this land
But there's only one man
Who can give us a command so we can
Rise up
Understand? It's the only way to
Rise up
Rise up
Here he comes
Here comes the general
Ladies and gentlemen
Here comes the general
The moment you've been waiting for
Here comes the general
The pride of Mount Vernon
Here comes the general
George Washington
We are outgunned (what?)
Outmanned (what?)
Outnumbered
Outplanned (buck, buck, buck, buck, buck)
We gotta make an all out stand
Ayo, I'm gonna need a right-hand man (buck, buck, buck, buck, buck)
Check it
Can I be real a second?
For just a millisecond?
Let down my guard and tell the people how I feel a second?
Now I'm the model of a modern major general
The venerated Virginian veteran whose men are all
Lining up, to put me up on a pedestal
Writin' letters to relatives
Embellishin' my elegance and eloquence
But the elephant is in the room
The truth is in ya face when ya hear the British cannons go
Boom
Any hope of success is fleeting
How can I keep leading when the people I'm
Leading keep retreating?
We put a stop to the bleeding as the British take Brooklyn
Knight takes rook, but look
We are outgunned (what?)
Outmanned (what?)
Outnumbered
Outplanned (buck, buck, buck, buck, buck)
We gotta make an all out stand
Ayo, I'm gonna need a right-hand man (buck, buck, buck, buck, buck)
Incoming
They're battering down the Battery check the damages
Rah
We gotta stop 'em and rob 'em of their advantages
Rah
Let's take a stand with the stamina God has granted us
Hamilton won't abandon ship
Yo, let's steal their cannons
Shh-boom
Goes the cannon, watch the blood and the shit spray and
Boom
Goes the cannon, we're abandonin' Kips Bay and
Boom
There's another ship and
Boom
We just lost the southern tip and
Boom
We gotta run to Harlem quick, we can't afford another slip
Guns and horses giddyup
I decide to divvy up
My forces, they're skittish as the British cut the city up
This close to giving up, facing mad scrutiny
I scream in the face of this mass mutiny
Are these the men with which I am to defend America?
We ride at midnight, Manhattan in the distance
I cannot be everywhere at once, people
I'm in dire need of assistance
Your excellency, sir
Who are you?
Aaron Burr, Sir?
Permission to state my case?
As you were
Sir
I was a captain under General Montgomery
Until he caught a bullet in the neck in Quebec
And well, in summary
I think that I could be of some assistance
I admire how you keep firing on the British
From a distance
Huh
I have some questions, a couple of suggestions on how to fight instead of fleeing west
Yes?
Well
Your excellency, you wanted to see me?
Hamilton, come in, have you met Burr?
Yes, sir
We keep meeting
As I was saying, sir, I look forward to seeing your strategy play out
Burr?
Sir?
Close the door on your way out
Have I done something wrong, sir?
On the contrary
I called you here because our odds are beyond scary
Your reputation precedes you, but I have to laugh
Sir?
Hamilton, how come no one can get you on their staff?
Sir
Don't get me wrong, you're a young man, of great renown
I know you stole British cannons when we were still downtown
Nathaniel Green and Henry Knox wanted to hire you
To be their Secretary? I don't think so
Why're you upset?
I'm not
It's alright, you want to fight, you've got a hunger
I was just like you when I was younger
Head full of fantasies of dyin' like a martyr?
Yes
Dying is easy, young man
Living is harder
Why are you telling me this?
I'm being honest
I'm working with a third of what our Congress has promised
We are a powder keg about to explode
I need someone like you to lighten the load
So?
I am not throwin' away my shot
I am not throwin' away my shot
Ayo, I'm just like my country, I'm young
Scrappy and hungry
I am not throwing away my shot
Son
We are outgunned, outmanned
You need all the help you can get
I have some friends, Laurens, Mulligan
Marquis de Lafayette, okay, what else?
Outnumbered, outplanned
We'll need some spies on the inside
Some King's men who might let some things slide
I'll write to Congress and tell 'em we need supplies
You rally the guys, master the element of surprise
I'll rise above my station, organize your information
'Til we rise to the occasion of our new nation, sir
Here comes the general
Rise up
Here comes the general
Rise up
Here comes the general
Rise up
Here comes the general
And his right hand man
Boom
Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor
Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor
When they surround our troops
They surround our troops
When they surround our troops
As a kid in the Caribbean I wished for a war
I knew that I was poor
I knew it was the only way to
Rise up
If they tell my story
I am either gonna die on the battlefield in glory or
Rise up
We will fight for this land
But there's only one man
Who can give us a command so we can
Rise up
Understand? It's the only way to
Rise up
Rise up
Here he comes
Here comes the general
Ladies and gentlemen
Here comes the general
The moment you've been waiting for
Here comes the general
The pride of Mount Vernon
Here comes the general
George Washington
We are outgunned (what?)
Outmanned (what?)
Outnumbered
Outplanned (buck, buck, buck, buck, buck)
We gotta make an all out stand
Ayo, I'm gonna need a right-hand man (buck, buck, buck, buck, buck)
Check it
Can I be real a second?
For just a millisecond?
Let down my guard and tell the people how I feel a second?
Now I'm the model of a modern major general
The venerated Virginian veteran whose men are all
Lining up, to put me up on a pedestal
Writin' letters to relatives
Embellishin' my elegance and eloquence
But the elephant is in the room
The truth is in ya face when ya hear the British cannons go
Boom
Any hope of success is fleeting
How can I keep leading when the people I'm
Leading keep retreating?
We put a stop to the bleeding as the British take Brooklyn
Knight takes rook, but look
We are outgunned (what?)
Outmanned (what?)
Outnumbered
Outplanned (buck, buck, buck, buck, buck)
We gotta make an all out stand
Ayo, I'm gonna need a right-hand man (buck, buck, buck, buck, buck)
Incoming
They're battering down the Battery check the damages
Rah
We gotta stop 'em and rob 'em of their advantages
Rah
Let's take a stand with the stamina God has granted us
Hamilton won't abandon ship
Yo, let's steal their cannons
Shh-boom
Goes the cannon, watch the blood and the shit spray and
Boom
Goes the cannon, we're abandonin' Kips Bay and
Boom
There's another ship and
Boom
We just lost the southern tip and
Boom
We gotta run to Harlem quick, we can't afford another slip
Guns and horses giddyup
I decide to divvy up
My forces, they're skittish as the British cut the city up
This close to giving up, facing mad scrutiny
I scream in the face of this mass mutiny
Are these the men with which I am to defend America?
We ride at midnight, Manhattan in the distance
I cannot be everywhere at once, people
I'm in dire need of assistance
Your excellency, sir
Who are you?
Aaron Burr, Sir?
Permission to state my case?
As you were
Sir
I was a captain under General Montgomery
Until he caught a bullet in the neck in Quebec
And well, in summary
I think that I could be of some assistance
I admire how you keep firing on the British
From a distance
Huh
I have some questions, a couple of suggestions on how to fight instead of fleeing west
Yes?
Well
Your excellency, you wanted to see me?
Hamilton, come in, have you met Burr?
Yes, sir
We keep meeting
As I was saying, sir, I look forward to seeing your strategy play out
Burr?
Sir?
Close the door on your way out
Have I done something wrong, sir?
On the contrary
I called you here because our odds are beyond scary
Your reputation precedes you, but I have to laugh
Sir?
Hamilton, how come no one can get you on their staff?
Sir
Don't get me wrong, you're a young man, of great renown
I know you stole British cannons when we were still downtown
Nathaniel Green and Henry Knox wanted to hire you
To be their Secretary? I don't think so
Why're you upset?
I'm not
It's alright, you want to fight, you've got a hunger
I was just like you when I was younger
Head full of fantasies of dyin' like a martyr?
Yes
Dying is easy, young man
Living is harder
Why are you telling me this?
I'm being honest
I'm working with a third of what our Congress has promised
We are a powder keg about to explode
I need someone like you to lighten the load
So?
I am not throwin' away my shot
I am not throwin' away my shot
Ayo, I'm just like my country, I'm young
Scrappy and hungry
I am not throwing away my shot
Son
We are outgunned, outmanned
You need all the help you can get
I have some friends, Laurens, Mulligan
Marquis de Lafayette, okay, what else?
Outnumbered, outplanned
We'll need some spies on the inside
Some King's men who might let some things slide
I'll write to Congress and tell 'em we need supplies
You rally the guys, master the element of surprise
I'll rise above my station, organize your information
'Til we rise to the occasion of our new nation, sir
Here comes the general
Rise up
Here comes the general
Rise up
Here comes the general
Rise up
Here comes the general
And his right hand man
Boom
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
Right Hand Man Lyrics as written by Lin-manuel Miranda
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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