Leslie Odom, Jr., Anthony Ramos, Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Christopher Jackson & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Anthony Ramos, Daveed Diggs & Okieriete Onaodowan
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anthony Ramos, Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Leslie Odom, Jr. & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anthony Ramos, Okieriete Onaodowan, Daveed Diggs & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Phillipa Soo, Jasmine Cephas-Jones, Leslie Odom, Jr., Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton” & Renée Elise Goldsberry
Thayne Jasperson, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Jonathan Groff & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Christopher Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom, Jr. & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
Phillipa Soo & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton & Renée Elise Goldsberry
Anthony Ramos, Okieriete Onaodowan, Daveed Diggs, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Leslie Odom Jr.
Leslie Odom, Jr. & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
Anthony Ramos, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jon Rua, Leslie Odom, Jr. & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom, Jr., Anthony Ramos, Christopher Jackson & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Lin-Manuel Miranda & Phillipa Soo
Leslie Odom, Jr., Daveed Diggs, Christopher Jackson & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Christopher Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
Jonathan Groff
Lin-Manuel Miranda & Leslie Odom, Jr.
Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Christopher Jackson, Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton” & Renée Elise Goldsberry
Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom, Jr., Okieriete Onaodowan & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Christopher Jackson, Daveed Diggs, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Okieriete Onaodowan
Phillipa Soo, Anthony Ramos, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Renée Elise Goldsberry
Jasmine Cephas-Jones, Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sydney James Harcourt & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Anthony Ramos, Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda & Phillipa Soo
Christopher Jackson, Daveed Diggs, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Okieriete Onaodowan
Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom, Jr., Okieriete Onaodowan & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Christopher Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Jonathan Groff
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr. & Okieriete Onaodowan
Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
Phillipa Soo
Anthony Ramos, Ariana DeBose, Sasha Hutchings, Ephraim Sykes, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anthony Ramos, Phillipa Soo & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton” & Renée Elise Goldsberry
Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton”
Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
Lin-Manuel Miranda & Phillipa Soo
Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
“Guns and Ships” holds the honor of being the fastest song in the fastest-paced musical theater production of all time (the whole show fits 20,000 words into 2.5 hours). According to Mental Floss, it’s also right up there for fastest song in musical theater history:
Hamilton may possibly hold the t...
[BURR]
How does a ragtag volunteer army in need of a shower
Somehow defeat a global superpower?
How do we emerge victorious from the quagmire?
Leave the battlefield waving Betsy Ross’ flag higher?
Yo. Turns out we have a secret weapon!
An immigrant you know and love who’s unafraid to step in!
He’s constantly confusin’, confoundin’ the British henchmen
Ev’ryone give it up for America’s favorite fighting Frenchman!
[COMPANY]
Lafayette!
[LAFAYETTE]
I’m takin this horse by the reins makin’
Redcoats redder with bloodstains
[COMPANY]
Lafayette!
[LAFAYETTE]
And I’m never gonna stop until I make ‘em
Drop and burn ‘em up and scatter their remains, I’m
[COMPANY]
Lafayette!
[LAFAYETTE]
Watch me engagin’ em! Escapin’ em!
Enragin’ em! I’m—
[COMPANY]
Lafayette!
[LAFAYETTE]
I go to France for more funds
[COMPANY]
Lafayette!
[LAFAYETTE]
I come back with more
[LAFAYETTE AND ENSEMBLE]
Guns
And ships
And so the balance shifts
[WASHINGTON]
We rendezvous with Rochambeau, consolidate their gifts
[LAFAYETTE]
We can end this war at Yorktown, cut them off at sea, but
For this to succeed, there is someone else we need:
[WASHINGTON]
I know
[WASHINGTON AND COMPANY]
Hamilton!
[LAFAYETTE]
Sir, he knows what to do in a trench
Ingenuitive and fluent in French, I mean—
[WASHINGTON AND COMPANY]
Hamilton!
[LAFAYETTE]
Sir, you’re gonna have to use him eventually
What’s he gonna do on the bench? I mean—
[WASHINGTON AND COMPANY]
Hamilton!
[LAFAYETTE]
No one has more resilience
Or matches my practical tactical brilliance—
[WASHINGTON AND COMPANY]
Hamilton!
[LAFAYETTE & COMPANY]
You wanna fight for your land back? (Hamilton!)
[WASHINGTON & WOMEN]
I need my right hand man back! (Hamilton!)
[LAFAYETTE, WOMEN, MEN]
Ah! Uh, get ya right hand man back
Get your right hand man back!
Hamilton!
You know you gotta get ya right hand man back
Your right hand man back!
Hamilton!
I mean you gotta put some thought into the letter
Ha—ha—Hamilton
But the sooner the better to get your right hand man back!
Hamilton, ha—ha—
[WASHINGTON]
Alexander Hamilton
Troops are waiting in the field for you
If you join us right now, together we can turn the tide
Oh, Alexander Hamilton
I have soldiers that will yield for you
If we manage to get this right
They’ll surrender by early light
The world will never be the same, Alexander…
Guns and Ships was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Guns and Ships was produced by Bill Sherman & ?uestlove & Black Thought & Alex Lacamoire & Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Leslie Odom, Jr., Daveed Diggs, Christopher Jackson & Original Broadway Cast of “Hamilton” released Guns and Ships on Fri Sep 25 2015.
Diggs talks about this on his appearance on Jimmy Fallon. He and his collaborator Rafael Casal also talk about the basics of how to rap and fast cadences in this interview with Genius.
It’s actually easier to rap fast for him because, like puzzle pieces, when you’re rapping this fast only certain s...
Yes, “Guns and Ships” was certified gold by the RIAA on January 9, 2019.