Alexander Hamilton At The White House Poetry Jam Uke tab by Lin-Manuel Miranda

[Intro]
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  (F#)                            How does a...

[Verse 1]
           Bm
How does a bastard orphan son of a whore and a
F#
Scotsman dropped in the middle of a
          G
Forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence
                D
Impoverished in squalor
                F#
Grow up to be a hero and a scholar


    Bm
The ten-dollar founding father without a father
      F#
Got a lot farther by working a lot harder
           G
By being a lot smarter
                                   D
By being a self-starter by fourteen
                          F#
they had placed him in charge of a trading charter


    Bm
And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted
  F#
Away across the waves our Hamilton kept his guard up
  G
Inside he was longing for something to be a part of
      D                         F#
The brother was ready to beg steal borrow or barter


       Bm
Then a hurricane came and devastation reigned
        F#
And our man saw his future drip dripping down the drain
      G
Put a pencil to his temple connected it to his brain
       D                         F#
And he wrote his first refrain a testament to his pain


         Bm
Well the word got around they said "This kid is insane man
F#
Took up a collection just to send him to the mainland
G
Get your education don't forget from whence you came
        D                            F#
and the world is gonna know your name, what's your name man?"


[Chorus 1]
Bm
Alexander Hamilton
            F#
His name is Alexander Hamilton
              G
And there's a million things he hasn't done
             D             F#
But just you wait just you wait


[Verse 2]
            Bm
When he was ten his father split full of it debt-ridden
       F#                                               G
Two years later see Alex and his mother bed-ridden half-dead

Sittin' in their own sick the scent thick

    D
And Alex got better but his mother went quick


Bm
Moved in with a cousin the cousin committed suicide
F#
Left him with nothin' but ruined pride something new inside
  G
A voice saying "Alex you gotta fend for yourself"


           D                            F#
He started retreatin' and readin' every treatise on the shelf


      Bm
There would have been nothing left to do

For someone less astute he woulda been
F#
Dead or destitute without a cent of restitution
        G
Started workin' clerkin' for his late mother's landlord
D                              F#
Tradin' sugar cane and rum and all the things he can't afford
Bm
Scammin' for every book he can get his hands on
F#
Plannin' for the future see him now as he stands on
    G
The bow of a ship headed for a new land
   D                F#
In New York you can be a new man

    Bm
The ship is in the harbor now

See if you can spot him
 F#
Another immigrant

Comin' up from the bottom
     Em
His enemies destroyed his rep

America forgot him

    D                         F#
And me I'm the damn fool that shot him

[Chorus 2]
Bm
Alexander Hamilton
        G7
We were waiting in the weeds for you
           Em
You could never back down
                             D    F#
You always had to speak your mind
    Bm
But Alexander Hamilton
         G7
We could never takes your deeds from you
       Em
In our cowardice and our shame
        D                   Em
We will try to destroy your name
        Bm       G     D      F#    Em      D
The world will never be the same Alexander!

                                         Bm
Yeah, I'm the damn genius that shot him