Right Hand Man lyrics

COMPANY

British Admiral Howe’s got troops on the water.

Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor.

ENSEMBLE

Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor.

When they surround our troops!

They surround our troops!

When 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

I 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

What?

WASHINGTON

outmanned,

ENSEMBLE

What?

WASHINGTON

outnumbered,

outplanned.

We gotta make an all out stand

ayo, I’m gonna need a right-hand man.

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,

We are outgunned,

ENSEMBLE

What?

WASHINGTON

outmanned,

ENSEMBLE

What?

WASHINGTON

outnumbered,

outplanned.

We gotta make an all out stand

ayo, I’m gonna need a right-hand man.

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

Shh-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 are 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

I’ll write to Congress and tell ‘em we need supplies, you rally the guys, master the element of surprise.

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

ENSEMBLE

Here comes the General!

HAMILTON

Rise up!

ENSEMBLE

Here comes the General!

HAMILTON

Rise up!

ENSEMBLE

Here comes the General!

HAMILTON

Rise up!

ENSEMBLE

Here comes the General!

HAMILTON

What?

WASHINGTON

And his right hand man!

FULL COMPANY

Boom!

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