I am not
throwing away my shot
I am not
throwing away my shot
Hey yo I'm just like
my country, I'm young
scrappy and hungry
and I'm not
throwing away my shot
Imma get a scholarship
to King's College
I probably shouldn't brag
but dag
I amaze and astonish
The problem is
I got a lot of brains
but no polish
I gotta holler
just to be heard
with every word
I drop knowledge
I'm a diamond in the rough
A shiny piece of coal
tryna reach my goal
my power of speech
unimpeachable
only nineteen
but my mind is older
These New York City
streets getting colder
I shoulder ev'ry burden
ev'ry disadvantage I have
learned to manage, I don't
have a gun to brandish
I walk these streets
famished
The plan is to fan this
spark into a flame but
damn it's getting dark so
let me spell out my name
I am the A-L, E-X, A-N,
D E-R we are meant to be
A colony that runs
independently meanwhile
Britain keeps s***ting on
us endlessly essentially
they tax us relentlessly
Then King George
turns around
runs a spending spree
he ain't never gonna set
his descendants free
So there will be a
revolution in this century
ENTER ME!
You'll be shocked when
your history book
mentions me I will lay
down my life if it sets us
free eventually you'll
see my ascendancy
And I am not
throwing away my shot
I am not throwing
away my shot
Hey yo I'm just
like my country
I'm young, scrappy
and hungry and I'm not
throwing away my shot
I am not throwing
away my shot
I am not throwing
away my shot
Hey yo I'm just
like my country
I'm young, scrappy
and hungry and I'm not
throwing away my shot
It's time to take a shot!
I dream of life
without the monarchy
The unrest in France
will lead to "Onarchy"
"Onarchy?" How you say
how you say Oh, anarchy!
When I fight I make
the other side panicky
with my shot!
Yo I'm a tailor's apprentice
and I got y'all
knuckleheads
in loco parentis
I'm joining the rebellion
cuz I know it's my chance
to socially advance
instead of sewin' some
pants I'm gonna
take a shot!
Eh but we'll never be
truly free until those in
bondage have the same
rights as you and me
You and I do or die
wait till I sally in on a
stallion with the first black
battalion have another
shot!
Geniuses lower your
voices you keep out of
trouble and you double
your choices
I'm with you
but the situation is fraught
You've got to be
carefully taught
if you talk
you're gonna get shot!
Burr check what we got
Mr. Lafayette hard rock
like Lancelot
I think your pants look hot
Laurens, I like you a lot
Let's hatch a plot blacker
than the kettle
callin' the pot
what are the odds
the Gods would put us
all in one spot
Poppin' a squat on
conventional wisdom
like it or not
A bunch of
revolutionary manumission
abolitionists give me a
position show me where
the ammunition is
Oh am I talkin' too loud?
Sometimes I get
over excited
shoot off at the mouth
I never had
a group of friends before
I promise that
I'll make y'all proud
Let's get this guy
in front of a crowd!
And I am not
throwing away my shot
I am not
throwing away my shot
Hey yo I'm just
like my country
I'm young, scrappy
and hungry and I'm not
throwing away my shot
I am not
throwing away my shot
I am not
throwing away my shot
Hey yo I'm just
like my country
I'm young, scrappy
and hungry and I'm not
throwing away my shot
Everybody sing
woah, woah, woh oh oh
hey woh oh oh
wooh! woh oh oh
sing let 'em hear ya
Let's go!
woah, woah woh oh oh
I said shout it to the
rooftops woh oh oh
said to the rooftop
woh oh oh hey come on
Hey come on let's go
rise up
when you're living
on your knees
you rise up
Tell your brother
that he's got to rise up
Tell your sister
that she's got to rise up
When are these
colonies gonna rise up?
When are these
colonies gonna rise up?
When are these
colonies gonna rise up?
When are these
colonies gonna rise up
rise up?
I imagine death so much
it feels more like a
memory
When's it gonna get me
in my sleep
seven feet ahead of me?
If I see it coming
do I run or do I let it be?
Is it like a beat
without a melody?
See I never thought
I'd live past twenty
Where I come from
some get half as many
Ask anybody why we
livin' fast, why we laugh
reach for a flask
we have to make this
moment last, that's plenty
Scratch that
this is not a moment
it's the movement
where all the
hungriest brothers with
something to prove went
Foes oppose us
we take an honest stand
we roll like Moses
claimin' our Promised Land
and if we win
our independence
Is that a guarantee
of freedom
for our descendants
Or will the blood we shed
begin an endless cycle
of vengeance and death
with no defendants?
I know the action
in the street is excitin'
but Jesus between all
the bleedin' 'n fightin'
I've been readin' 'n' writin'
We need to handle
our financial situation
Are we a nation of states?
What's the state
of our nation?
I'm past patiently waitin'!
I'm passionately smashin'
every expectation
every action's
an act of creation
I'm laughin' in the face
of casualties and sorrow
for the first time
I'm thinkin' past tomorrow
And I am not
throwing away my shot
I am not
throwing away my shot
Hey yo I'm just
like my country
I'm young, scrappy
and hungry and I'm not
throwing away my shot
We're gonna rise up
time to take a shot
We're gonna rise up
time to take a shot
We're gonna
rise up, rise up
its time to take a shot
rise up, rise up
its time to take a shot
rise up
Time to take a shot
rise up
take a shot
a shot, a shot
oh-oh, oh
A-yo it's time
to take a shot
time to take a shot
and I am not throwing
away my, not throwing
away my shot!