This song dramatizes many elements of George Washington’s troubled New York Campaign, which leads to his fateful meeting with one Alexander Hamilton.

The beat, particularly when Washington enters, is very… Read More [COMPANY]

British Admiral Howe's got troops on the water

Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor

[ENSEMBLE 1, ENSEMBLE 2, ALL]

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

[HAMILTON, HAMILTON, LAURENS, LAFFAYETTE, MULLIGAN & BURR]

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

I 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

[BURR & ENSEMBLE]

(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!

[WASHINGTON & ENSEMBLE]

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)

[WASHINGTON]

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 linin' 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 you hear the British cannons go

[ENSEMBLE]

Boom

[WASHINGTON]

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

[WASHINGTON & ENSEMBLE]

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!

[HAMILTON]

They're battering down the Battery, check the damages

[MULLIGAN]

Rah

[HAMILTON]

We gotta stop 'em and rob 'em of their advantages

[MULLIGAN]

Rah

[HAMILTON]

Let's take a stand with the stamina God has granted us

Hamilton won't abandon ship

Yo, let's steal their cannons

[MULLIGAN, MULLIGAN & COMPANY]

Shh-boom

[WASHINGTON & COMPANY]

Goes the cannon, watch the blood and the shit spray

And (Boom)

Goes the cannon, we're abandoning 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

[WASHINGTON]

Guns and horses giddyup

I decide to divvy up my forces

They're skittish as the British cut the city up

This close to givin' up, facin' 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

[BURR]

Your excellency, sir

[WASHINGTON]

Who are you?

[BURR]

Aaron Burr, sir

Permission to state my case?

[WASHINGTON]

As you were

[BURR]

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

[WASHINGTON]

Huh

[BURR]

I have some questions, a couple of suggestions

On how to fight instead of fleeing west

[WASHINGTON]

Yes?

[BURR]

Well—

[HAMILTON]

Your excellency

You wanted to see me?

[WASHINGTON]

Hamilton, come in, have you met Burr?

[HAMILTON]

Yes, sir

[HAMILTON & BURR]

We keep meeting

[BURR]

As I was saying, sir

I look forward to seeing your strategy play out

[WASHINGTON]

Burr?

[BURR]

Sir?

[WASHINGTON]

Close the door on your way out

[BURR exits]

[HAMILTON]

Have I done something wrong, sir?

[WASHINGTON]

On the contrary

I called you here because our odds are beyond scary

Your reputation precedes you, but I have to laugh

[HAMILTON]

Sir?

[WASHINGTON]

Hamilton, how come no one can get you on their staff?

[HAMILTON]

Sir!

[WASHINGTON]

Don't get me wrong, you're a young man of great renown

I know you stole British cannons when we were still downtown

Nathanael Greene and Henry Knox wanted to hire you

[HAMILTON]

To be their Secretary, I don't think so

[WASHINGTON]

Now why are you upset?

[HAMILTON]

I'm not

[WASHINGTON]

It's alright you wanna fight, you've got a hunger

I was just like you when I was younger

Head full of fantasies of dyin' like a martyr?

[HAMILTON]

Yes

[WASHINGTON]

Dyin' is easy, young man

Living is harder

[HAMILTON]

Why are you telling me this?

[WASHINGTON]

I'm bein' 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?

[COMPANY except HAMILTON]

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

[HAMILTON]

I am not throwing away my shot

[WASHINGTON, WASHINGTON & COMPANY]

Son, we are outgunned, outmanned

[HAMILTON]

You need all the help you can get

I have some friends

Laurens, Mulligan, Marquis de Lafayette

Okay, what else?

[WASHINGTON & COMPANY]

Outnumbered, outplanned

[HAMILTON]

We'll need some spies on the inside

Some King's men who might let some things slide

[HAMILTON, COMPANY & SCHUYLER SISTERS]

Boom (Woah, woah, woah)

I'll write to Congress and tell 'em we need supplies

You rally the guys, master the element of surprise

Chicka-boom (Woah, woah, woah)

I'll rise above my station, organize your information

'Til we rise to the occasion of our new nation, sir!

[SCHUYLER SISTERS & WOMEN]

Woah

[ENSEMBLE]

Here comes the General

[HAMILTON]

Rise up

[LAURENS, LAFAYETTE & MULLIGAN]

What?

[ENSEMBLE]

Here comes the General

[HAMILTON & SCHUYLER SISTERS]

Rise up

[LAURENS, LAFAYETTE & MULLIGAN]

What?

[ENSEMBLE]

Here comes the General

[HAMILTON, SCHUYLER SISTERS & WOMEN]

Rise up

[LAURENS, LAFAYETTE & MULLIGAN]

What?

[COMPANY]

Here comes the General

[HAMILTON]

What?

[WASHINGTON]

And his right-hand man

[FULL COMPANY]

Boom