Right Hand Man (2014 Workshop)

[HAMILTON]
Now I can write a revolutionary screed until my fingers bleed
But action’s gonna bring us what we need

[ENSEMBLE]
Yes indeed

[HAMILTON]
Tonight we plant a revolutionary seed
And watch it twist and weave and grow
Until we choke out every weed

[ENSEMBLE]
Yes indeed

[HAMILTON]
Let’s grab those cannons with our legendary speed
Keep in step with me, the leader of this gang, are we agreed?

[ENSEMBLE]
Yes indeed

[HAMILTON]
Stick with me

[ENSEMBLE]
Yes indeed

[HAMILTON]
Til we’re free

[ENSEMBLE]
Yes indeed

[HAMILTON]
Say goodbye to the life you used to lead

[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

[ENSEMBLE]
Buck buck buck buck buck

[WASHINGTON]
We gotta make an all out stand
Hey yo, I’m gonna need a right hand man

[ENSEMBLE]
Buck buck buck buck buck

[WASHINGTON]
Can I be real a second? For just a millisecond?
Let down my guard and tell the people how I feel second?
Now I’m the model of the 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

[ENSEMBLE]
Buck buck buck buck buck

[WASHINGTON]
We gotta make an all out stand
Hey yo, I’m gonna need a right hand man

[COMPANY]
British Admiral Howe’s got troops on the water
Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor

[ENSEMBLE 1]
Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor

When they surround our troops!
They surround our troops!
When they surround our troops!

[ENSEMBLE 2]
Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor

They surround our troops!
They surround our troops!

[HAMILTON]
They gonna slaughter us? No
We’ll be the regiment that gets it in and spreads them thin

[ENSEMBLE]
What

[HAMILTON]
The unpredictable rebels who gave their heads a spin

[ENSEMBLE]
What

[HAMILTON]
Who says I can’t lead?

[ENSEMBLE]
What

[HAMILTON]
Who says I can’t inspire?

[ENSEMBLE]
What

[HAMILTON]
Let’s bring our cannons back, we’re facing heavy cannon fire
The British fleet advances, morale slips
Taking chances, ma-a-a-n I ain’t scared of ships
Spread the word, when the commander says retreat
I’m the last man standing in the street
Blast the heat

[ENSEMBLE]
Boom!

[WASHINGTON]
Goes the cannon, watch the blood and the shit spray

[ENSEMBLE]
Boom!

[WASHINGTON]
Goes the cannon, we’re abandoning Kips Bay

[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]
Well, 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

[HAMILTON]
Yes, we fought together in Trenton, I helped you take the town

[WASHINGTON]
Nathaniel Greene and Henry Knox wanted to hire you

[HAMILTON]
I came to be a soldier, not a secretary

[WASHINGTON]
Why’re 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!