My Shot Songtext

von Lin-Manuel Miranda

HAMILTON
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,
And I'm not throwing away my shot!
I'm ‘a get a scholarship to King's College.
I prob'ly shouldn't brag, but dag, I amaze
And astonish.
The problem is I got a lot of brains but no polish.
I gotta holler just to be heard.
With every word, I drop knowledge!
I'm a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece
Of coal
Tryin' to reach my goal. My power of speech:
Unimpeachable.
Only nineteen but my mind is older.
These New York City streets get colder, I
Shoulder
Ev'ry burden, ev'ry disadvantage
I have learned to manage, I don't have a gun
To brandish,
I walk these streets famished.
The plan is to fan this spark into a flame.
But damn, it's getting dark, so let me spell
Out the name,
I am the—
HAMILTON/LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN/
LAURENS
A-l-e-x-a-n-d
E-r—we are—meant to be...
HAMILTON
A colony that runs independently.
Meanwhile, Britain keeps shittin' on us
Endlessly.
Essentially, they tax us relentlessly,
Then King George turns around, runs a
Spending spree.
He ain't ever gonna set his descendants free,
So there will be a revolution in this century.
Enter me!
LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN/LAURENS
(He says in parentheses)
HAMILTON
Don't be shocked when your hist'ry book
Mentions me.
I will lay down my life if it sets us free.
Eventually, you'll see my ascendancy,
HAMILTON LAURENS
And I am not throwing
Away my shot.
My shot!
I am not throwing
Away my shot.
My shot!
Hey yo, I'm just like
My country,
I'm young, scrappy
And hungry
And I'm not throwing
Away my shot.
And I'm not throwing
Away my shot.
HAMILTON/MULLIGAN/LAURENS/
LAFAYETTE
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
And I'm not throwing away my shot.
It's time to take a shot!
LAFAYETTE
I dream of life without a monarchy.
The unrest in France will lead to ‘onarchy?
‘Onarchy? How you say, how you say, ‘anarchy?'
When I fight, I make the other side panicky.
With my-
HAMILTON/LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/
MULLIGAN
Shot!
MULLIGAN
Yo, I'm a tailor's apprentice,
And I got y'all knuckleheads in loco parentis.
I'm joining the rebellion cuz I know it's my
Chance
To socially advance, instead of sewin' some
Pants!
I'm gonna take a-
HAMILTON/LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/
MULLIGAN
Shot!
LAURENS
But we'll never be truly free
Until those in bondage have the same rights
As you and me,
You and I. Do or die. Wait till I sally in
On a stallion with the first black battalion
Have another-
HAMILTON/LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/
MULLIGAN
Shot!
BURR
Geniuses, lower your voices.
You keep out of trouble and you double your
Choices.
I'm with you, but the situation is fraught.
You've got to be carefully taught:
If you talk, you're gonna get shot!
HAMILTON
Burr, check what we got.
Mister Lafayette, hard rock like Lancelot,
I think your pants look hot,
Laurens, I like you a lot.
Let's hatch a plot blacker than the kettle callin'
The pot...
What are the odds the gods would put us all
In one spot,
Poppin' a squat on conventional wisdom, like
It or not,
A bunch of revolutionary manumission
Abolitionists?
Give me a position, show me where the
Ammunition is!
Oh, am I talkin' too loud?
Sometimes I get over excited, shoot off at
The mouth.
I never had a group of friends before,
I promise that I'll make y'all proud.
LAURENS
Let's get this guy in front of a crowd.
HAM/LAUR/LAF/MULL/ENSEMBLE
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
And I'm not throwing away my shot.
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
And I'm not throwing away my shot.
LAURENS
Ev'rybody sing: HAM/LAF/MULL
Whoa, whoa, whoa Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Hey!
Whoa! Whoa!
Wooh!!
Whoa! Whoa!
Ay, let ‘em hear ya!
Let's go! Yea!
COMPANY
I said shout it to the
Rooftops!
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Said, to the rooftops! Whoa!
Come on! Whoa!
Come on, let's go! Yea!
LAURENS
Rise up!
When you're living on
Your knees,
You rise up.
Tell your brother that
He's gotta rise up.
Tell your sister that
She's gotta rise up.
LAURENS AND
ENSEMBLE
When are these
Colonies gonna
Rise up?
When are these
Colonies gonna
Rise up
Whoa! Whoa!
When are these
Colonies gonna
Rise up
Whoa!
When are these
Colonies gonna
Rise up?
Whoa!
Rise up!
Rise up!
HAMILTON
I imagine death so much it feels more like
A memory
When's it gonna get me?
In my sleep? Seven feet ahead of me?
Comin', do I run or do I let it be?
Is it like a beat without a melody?
See, I never thought I'd live past twenty.
Where I come from some get half as many.
Ask anybody why we livin' fast and we
Laugh, reach for a flask,
We have to make this moment last, that's
Plenty.
Scratch that,
This is not a moment, it's the movement
Where all the hungriest brothers with
Something to prove went?
Foes oppose us, we take an honest stand,
We roll like Moses, claimin' our promised land.
And? If we win our independence?
‘Zat a guarantee of freedom for our
Descendants?
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' ‘n fightin'
I've been readin' ‘n writin'.
We need to handle our financial situation.
Are we a nation of states? What's the state of
Our nation?
I'm past patiently waitin'. I'm passionately
Smashin' every expectation,
Every 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,
HAMILTON AND COMPANY
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
And I'm not throwing away my shot.
HAMILTON/
LAURENS/
LAFAYETTE/
MULLIGAN
We're gonna ENSEMBLE
Rise up! Time to take
A shot!
Not throwing away
My shot.
We're gonna
Rise up! Time to take
A shot!
Not throwing away
My shot.
We're gonna We're gonna
Rise up!
Rise up!
HAMILTON
Time to take a shot!
Rise up!
Rise up!
HAM/LAF/MULL/
LAUR
Time to take a shot! Rise up!
Rise up!
Take a shot!
Shot! Ri- ri- ri
Shot!
A-yo, it's
Time to take a shot! Time to take a shot!
Time to take a shot! Time to take a shot!
And I am– And I am–
HAM/LAF/MULL/LAUR
Not throwin' away my-
COMPANY
Not throwin' away my shot!