Download "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)"

Album Hamilton: An American Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)

Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) by Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton

Release Date
Fri Sep 25 2015
Produced by
Black Thought & ?uestlove & Lin-Manuel Miranda & Bill Sherman & Alex Lacamoire
Writed by
Lin-Manuel Miranda
About

This song captures the events that occurred during the Battle of Yorktown, the last major battle of the Revolutionary War. These events are covered in Chernow’s biography on pages 160-165.

Washington chose to concentrate his forces at Williamsburg. Once there, they joined with Lafayette’s forces wh...

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Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) Lyrics

[COMPANY]
The battle of Yorktown. 1781

[LAFAYETTE]
Monsieur Hamilton

[HAMILTON]
Monsieur Lafayette

[LAFAYETTE]
In command where you belong

[HAMILTON]
How you say, no sweat
We're finally on the field. We've had quite a run

[LAFAYETTE]
Immigrants:

[HAMILTON & LAFAYETTE]
We get the job done

[HAMILTON]
So what happens if we win?

[LAFAYETTE]
I go back to France
I bring freedom to my people if I'm given the chance

[HAMILTON]
We'll be with you when you do

[LAFAYETTE]
Go lead your men

[HAMILTON]
See you on the other side

[LAFAYETTE]
'Til we meet again, let's go!

[ENSEMBLE]
I am not throwin' away my shot!
I am not throwin' away my shot!
Hey yo, I'm just like my country, I'm young
Scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot!
I am not throwin' away my shot!

[HAMILTON]
'Til the world turns upside down…

[ENSEMBLE]
'Til the world turns upside down!

[HAMILTON]
I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory
This is where it gets me: on my feet
The enemy ahead of me
If this is the end of me, at least I have a friend with me
Weapon in my hand, a command, and my men with me
Then I remember my Eliza's expecting me...
Not only that, my Eliza's expecting
We gotta go, gotta get the job done
Gotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son!
Take the bullets out your gun!

[ENSEMBLE]
What?

[HAMILTON]
The bullets out your gun!

[ENSEMBLE]
What?

[HAMILTON]
We move under cover and we move as one
Through the night, we have one shot to live another day
We cannot let a stray gunshot give us away
We will fight up close, seize the moment and stay in it
It's either that or meet the business end of a bayonet
The code word is "Rochambeau," dig me?

[ENSEMBLE]
Rochambeau!

[HAMILTON]
You have your orders now, go, man, go!
And so the American experiment begins
With my friends all scattered to the winds
Laurens is in South Carolina, redefining brav'ry

[HAMILTON & LAURENS]
We'll never be free until we end slavery!

[HAMILTON]
When we finally drive the British away
Lafayette is there waiting—

[HAMILTON & LAFAYETTE]
In Chesapeake Bay!

[HAMILTON]
How did we know that this plan would work?
We had a spy on the inside. That's right

[HAMILTON & COMPANY]
Hercules Mulligan!

[MULLIGAN]
A tailor spyin' on the British government!
I take their measurements, information and then I smuggle it

[COMPANY]
Up

[MULLIGAN]
To my brother's revolutionary covenant
I'm runnin' with the Sons of Liberty and I am lovin' it!
See, that's what happens when you up against the ruffians
We in the shit now, somebody gotta shovel it!
Hercules Mulligan, I need no introduction
When you knock me down I get the fuck back up again!

[COMPANY]
Left! Right! Hold!
Go!
What! What! What!

[HAMILTON]
After a week of fighting, a young man in a red coat stands on a parapet

[LAFAYETTE]
We lower our guns as he frantically waves a white handkerchief

[MULLIGAN]
And just like that, it's over. We tend to our wounded, we count our dead

[LAURENS]
Black and white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedom

[WASHINGTON]
Not. Yet

[HAMILTON]
We negotiate the terms of surrender
I see George Washington smile
We escort their men out of Yorktown
They stagger home single file
Tens of thousands of people flood the streets
There are screams and church bells ringing
And as our fallen foes retreat
I hear the drinking song they're singing…

[ALL MEN]
The world turned upside down

[COMPANY]
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
Down
Down, down, down

[LAFAYETTE]
Freedom for America, freedom for France!

[COMPANY]
Down, down, down

[HAMILTON]
Gotta start a new nation
Gotta meet my son

[COMPANY]
Down, down, down

[MULLIGAN]
We won!

[LAFAYETTE]
We won!

[MULLIGAN, LAFAYETTE & LAURENS]
We won!

[MULLIGAN, LAFAYETTE, LAURENS, HAMILTON & WASHINGTON]
We won!

[COMPANY]
The world turned upside down!

Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) Q&A

Who wrote Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)'s ?

Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Who produced Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)'s ?

Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) was produced by Black Thought & ?uestlove & Lin-Manuel Miranda & Bill Sherman & Alex Lacamoire.

When did Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton release Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)?

Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton released Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) on Fri Sep 25 2015.

Is this song reprised later in the show?

While there is no direct reprise, the chord progression of “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down),” used through the majority of the song, will return the Act II song “Hurricane,” as Hamilton contemplates publishing the Reynolds Pamphlet. This musical connection between the two songs perhaps refer...

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Does the track have any certifications?

Yes, “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)” was certified gold by the RIAA on January 31, 2019.

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