Alexander Hamilton

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 ten 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 fourteen 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 things I haven't done
But just you wait
Just you wait
When he was ten, his father split
Full of it
Debt ridden
Two 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 would have been nothing left to do
For someone less astute
He would have been dead and destitute
Without essential restitution
Started working, clerking for his late mother's landlord
Trading sugarcane and rum and other things he can't afford
Scamming 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
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 are waiting in the wings for you
(Waiting in the wings for you)
You never backed 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 the same
The ship is in the harbor now
See if you can spot him
Another immigrant coming up from the bottom
His 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 things I haven't done
But just you wait
What's your name, man?
Alexander Hamilton