Yorktown Song Lyrics by Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
The battle of Yorktown, 1781Monsieur HamiltonMonsieur LafayetteIn command where you belong
How you say, no sweatFinally on the field, we’ve had quite a runImmigrants, we get the job done
So what happens if we win?I go back to FranceI bring freedom to my peopleIf I’m given the chance
We’ll be with you when you doGo lead your menI see you on the other side‘Til we meet again, let’s go!
I am not throwin’ away my shot!I am not throwin’ away my shot!Hey yo, I’m just like my countryI’m young scrappy and hungryAnd I’m not throwin’ away my shot!I am not throwin’ away my shot!‘Til the world turns upside down‘Til the world turns upside down!
I imagine death so much, it feels more like a memoryThis is where it gets me, on my feet the enemy ahead of meIf this is the end of me, at least I have a friend with meWeapon in my hand, a command, and my men with meThen I remember my Eliza’s expecting meNot only that, my Eliza’s expectingWe gotta go, gotta get the job doneGotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son!
Take the bullets out your gun! (What?)The bullets out your gun! (What?)We move undercover and we move as oneThrough the night, we have one shot to liveAnother dayWe cannot let a stray gunshot give us away
We will fight up close, seize the moment and stay in itIt’s either that or meet the business end of a bayonetThe code word is “Rochambeau”, dig me? (Rochambeau!)You have your orders now, go, man, go!
And so the American experiment beginsWith my friends all scattered to the windsLaurens is in South Carolina, redefining braveryWe’ll never be free until we end slavery!When we finally drive the British awayLafayette is there waiting in Chesapeake Bay!How did we know that this plan would work?We had a spy on the inside, that’s right
Hercules Mulligan!A tailor spyin’ on the British government!I take their measurements, information and then I smuggle it! (Up)To my brother’s revolutionary covenantI’m runnin’ with the Sons of Liberty and I am lovin’ it!See, that’s what happens when you up against the ruffiansWe in the shit now, somebody gotta shovel it!Hercules Mulligan, I need no introductionWhen you knock me down I get the fuck back up again!
Left! Right! Hold!Go!What! What! What!
After a week of fighting, a young man in a red coat stands on a parapetWe lower our guns as he frantically waves a white handkerchiefAnd just like that, it’s over, we tend to our wounded, we count our deadBlack and white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedomNot yet
We negotiate the terms of surrenderI see George Washington smileWe escort their men out of YorktownThey stagger home single fileTens of thousands of people flood the streetsThere are screams and church bells ringingAnd as our fallen foes retreatI hear the drinking song they’re singing
The world turned upside downThe world turned upside downThe world turned upside downThe world turned upside downDown, down, down, down
Freedom for America, freedom for France!Down, down, downGotta start a new nation, gotta meet my sonDown, down, down
We won!We won!We won!We won!The world turned upside down!