Wednesday, June 29, 2016

ACT I.8: Right Hand Man Lyrics - Hamilton Musical



"Right Hand Man" is a song from the Broadway musical Hamilton performed by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), Christopher Jackson (Washington) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Burr).


RIGHT HAND MAN :
[COMPANY]
British Admiral Howe’s got troops on the water
Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor

[ENSEMBLE 1]
Thirty-two thousand troops in                     [ENSEMBLE 2]
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!                  They surround our troops!
.                                                              They surround our troops!

[HAMILTON]
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—

[HAMILTON/BURR/MULLIGAN/LAURENS/LAFAYETTE]
Rise up!

[HAMILTON]
If they tell my story
I am either gonna die on the battlefield in glory or—

[HAMILTON/BURR/MULLIGAN/LAURENS/LAFAYETTE]
Rise up!

[HAMILTON]
We will fight for this land
But there’s only one man
Who can give us a command so we can—

[HAMILTON/BURR/MULLIGAN/LAURENS/LAFAYETTE]
Rise up!

[HAMILTON]
Understand? It’s the only way to—

[HAMILTON/BURR/MULLIGAN/LAURENS/LAFAYETTE]
Rise up! Rise up!

[HAMILTON]
Here he comes!

[ENSEMBLE]
Here comes the General!

[BURR]
Ladies and gentlemen!

[ENSEMBLE]
Here comes the General!

[BURR]
The moment you’ve been waiting for!

[ENSEMBLE]
Here comes the General!

[BURR]
The pride of Mount Vernon!

[ENSEMBLE]
Here comes the General!

[BURR]
George Washington!

[WASHINGTON]
We are outgunned                             ENSEMBLE:
Outmanned                                       What?              
Outnumbered
Outplanned                                       What?
.                                                      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
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…

[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]
We are outgunned                       [ENSEMBLE]
Outmanned                                 What?
Outnumbered
Outplanned                                 What?
.                                                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]                                            [COMPANY]
Shh-boom!                                              Boom!      

[WASHINGTON]
Goes the cannon, watch the blood and the shit spray and…

[COMPANY]
Boom!

[WASHINGTON]
Goes the cannon, we’re abandonin’ Kips Bay and…

[COMPANY]
Boom!

[WASHINGTON]
There’s another ship and…

[COMPANY]
Boom!

[WASHINGTON]
We just lost the southern tip and…

[COMPANY]
Boom!

[WASHINGTON]
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…

[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 AND 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

[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
Nathaniel Green and Henry Knox wanted to hire you…

[HAMILTON]
To be their Secretary? I don’t think so

[WASHINGTON]
Why’re you upset?

[HAMILTON]
I’m not—

[WASHINGTON]
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?

[HAMILTON]
Yes

[WASHINGTON]
Dying is easy, young man. Living is harder

[HAMILTON]
Why are you telling me this?

[WASHINGTON]
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?

[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]
Son

[WASHINGON AND COMPANY]
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 AND COMPANY]
Outnumbered, outplanned!

[HAMILTON]
We’ll need some spies on the inside
Some King’s men who might let some things slide

[HAMILTON]               [COMPANY]    [ELIZA/ANGELICA/PEGGY]
I’ll write to Congress     Boom!
and tell ‘em we need                        Whoa, whoa, whoa...
supplies, you rally
the guys, master the
element of surprise                           Whoa, whoa, whoa...

Chicka-boom!
I’ll rise above my
station, organize
your information, ‘til
we rise to the occasion                    Whoa, whoa, whoa...
of our new nation. Sir!

.                                 [ENSEMBLE]                                   [LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN]
.                                 Here comes the General!                  What?

[HAMILTON]
Rise up!

[ENSEMBLE]     [LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN]
Here comes     What?
the General!


[HAMILTON]        [SCHUYLER SISTERS]
Rise up!               Rise up!

[ENSEMBLE]
Here comes the General!

[HAMILTON]               
Rise up!

[FULL COMPANY]
Here comes the General!

[HAMILTON]
What?

[WASHINGTON]
And his right hand man!

[FULL COMPANY]
Boom!

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