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

(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 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!