Hamilton - Right Hand Man Lyrics

Broadway musical (2015)
Hamilton the Musical - Right Hand Man Lyrics


"Right Hand Man" is a song from the Broadway musical Hamilton performed by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), Christopher Jackson (Washington) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Burr).


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

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

[HAMILTON]
As a kid in the Caribbean I wished for a war
I knew that I was poor
I knew it was the only way to—

[HAMILTON/BURR/MULLIGAN/LAURENS/LAFAYETTE]
Rise up!

[HAMILTON]
If they tell my story
I am either gonna die on the battlefield in glory or—

[HAMILTON/BURR/MULLIGAN/LAURENS/LAFAYETTE]
Rise up!

[HAMILTON]
We will fight for this land
But there’s only one man
Who can give us a command so we can—

[HAMILTON/BURR/MULLIGAN/LAURENS/LAFAYETTE]
Rise up!

[HAMILTON]
Understand? It’s the only way to—

[HAMILTON/BURR/MULLIGAN/LAURENS/LAFAYETTE]
Rise up! Rise up!

[HAMILTON]
Here he comes!

[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:
Outmanned                                       What?             
Outnumbered
Outplanned                                       What?
.                                                      Buck, buck, buck, buck, buck!

We gotta make an all out stand
Ayo, I’m gonna need a
right-hand man.      
.                                                     Buck, buck, buck, buck, buck!

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

[WASHINGTON]
We are outgunned                       [ENSEMBLE]
Outmanned                                 What?
Outnumbered
Outplanned                                 What?
.                                                Buck, buck, buck, buck, buck!
We gotta make an all out stand
Ayo, I’m gonna need a
right-hand man
.                                                Buck, buck, buck, buck, buck!
Incoming!      

[HAMILTON]
They’re battering down the Battery check the damages

[MULLIGAN]
Rah!

[HAMILTON]
We gotta stop ‘em and rob ‘em of their advantages

[MULLIGAN]
Rah!

[HAMILTON]
Let’s take a stand with the stamina God has granted us
Hamilton won’t abandon ship
Yo, let’s steal their cannons—

[MULLIGAN]                                            [COMPANY]
Shh-boom!                                              Boom!     

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

[COMPANY]
Boom!

[WASHINGTON]
Goes the cannon, we’re abandonin’ Kips Bay and…

[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]
As I was saying, 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
I know you stole British cannons when we were still downtown
Nathanael Greene and Henry Knox wanted to hire you...

[HAMILTON]
To be their Secretary? I don’t think so

[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!

[WASHINGTON]
Son

[WASHINGON AND COMPANY]
We are outgunned, outmanned!

[HAMILTON]
You need all the help you can get
I have some friends. Laurens, Mulligan
Marquis de Lafayette, okay, what else?

[WASHINGTON AND COMPANY]
Outnumbered, outplanned!

[HAMILTON]
We’ll need some spies on the inside
Some King’s men who might let some things slide

[HAMILTON]               [COMPANY]    [ELIZA/ANGELICA/PEGGY]
I’ll write to Congress     Boom!
and tell ‘em we need                        Whoa, whoa, whoa...
supplies, you rally
the guys, master the
element of surprise                           Whoa, whoa, whoa...

Chicka-boom!
I’ll rise above my
station, organize
your information, ‘til
we rise to the occasion                    Whoa, whoa, whoa...
of our new nation. Sir!

.                                 [ENSEMBLE]                                   [LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN]
.                                 Here comes the General!                  What?

[HAMILTON]
Rise up!

[ENSEMBLE]     [LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN]
Here comes     What?
the General!


[HAMILTON]        [SCHUYLER SISTERS]
Rise up!               Rise up!

[ENSEMBLE]
Here comes the General!

[HAMILTON]              
Rise up!

[FULL COMPANY]
Here comes the General!

[HAMILTON]
What?

[WASHINGTON]
And his right hand man!

[FULL COMPANY]
Boom!

[Thanks to Juan Hernandez for corrections these lyrics]

Read more: Hamilton the Musical


Hamilton the Musical Songs Lyrics

SYNOPSIS
Alexander Hamilton
Aaron Burr, Sir
My Shot
The Story Of Tonight
The Schuyler Sisters
Farmer Refuted
You'll Be Back
Right Hand Man
A Winter's Ball
Helpless
Satisfied
The Story of Tonight (Reprise)
Wait For It
Stay Alive
Ten Duel Commandments
Meet Me Inside
That Would Be Enough
Guns and Ships
History Has Its Eyes On You
Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)
What Comes Next
Dear Theodosia
Non-Stop
What'd I Miss
Cabinet Battle #1
Take A Break
Say No To This
The Room Where It Happens
Schuyler Defeated
Cabinet Battle #2
Washington On Your Side
One Last Time
I Know Him
The Adams Administration
We Know
Hurricane
The Reynolds Pamphlet
Burn
Blow Us All Away
Stay Alive (Reprise)
It's Quiet Uptown
Election of 1800
Your Obedient Servant
Best of Wives and Best of Women
The World Was Wide Enough
Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story
Congratulations
Tomorrow There Will Be More of Us