Alexander Hamilton [French translation]

BURR

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?

LAURENS

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.

JEFFERSON

And every day 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.

MADISON

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.

BURR

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 is gonna know your name. What’s your name, man?”

HAMILTON

Alexander Hamilton.

My name is Alexander Hamilton.

And there’s a million things I haven’t done,

but just you wait, just you wait...

ELIZA

When he was ten his father split, full of it, debt-ridden,

two years later, see Alex and his mother bed-ridden,

half-dead sittin in their own sick, the scent thick,

COMPANY

And Alex got better but his mother went quick.

WASHINGTON

Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide.

Left him with nothin’ but ruined pride, something new inside,

a voice saying,

WASHINGTON & COMPANY

“Alex, you gotta fend for yourself.”

WASHINGTON

he started retreatin’ and readin’ every treatise on the shelf.

BURR

There would have been nothin’ left to do

for someone less astute,

he woulda been dead or destitute

without a cent of restitution,

started workin’, clerkin’ for his late mother’s landlord,

tradin’ sugar cane and rum and all the things he can’t afford

scammin’ for every book he can get his hands on,

plannin’ 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.

COMPANY

In New York you can be a new man—

HAMILTON

Just you wait!

COMPANY

In New York you can be a new man—

HAMILTON

Just you wait!

COMPANY

In New York you can be a new man—

In New York—

New York—

HAMILTON

Just you wait!

COMPANY

Alexander Hamilton

We are waiting in the wings for you

You could never back down,

you never learned to take your time!

Oh, 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, oh.

BURR

The ship is in the harbor now,

see if you can spot him.

Another immigrant,

comin’ up from the bottom.

His enemies destroyed his rep,

America forgot him

MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTE

We fought with him.

LAURENS

Me? I died for him.

WASHINGTON

Me? I trusted him.

ELIZA/ANGELICA/MARIA

Me? I loved him.

BURR

And me? I’m the damn fool that shot him.

COMPANY

There’s a million things I haven’t done,

but just you wait!

BURR

What’s your name, man?

COMPANY

Alexander Hamilton!

• Artist:Hamilton (Musical)
• Album:Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording)