Right Hand Man
Christopher Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom, Jr. & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton"
[COMPANY]
British Admiral Howe's got troops on the water
Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor

[ENSEMBLE 1 & ENSEMBLE 2]
Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor
Thirty-two thousand troops in New York harbor
When they surround our troops!
They surround our troops!
They surround our troops!
They surround our troops!
When 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]
I 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 & ENSEMBLE]
We are outgunned (What?)
Outmanned (What?)
Outnumbered
Outplanned (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 & ENSEMBLE]
We are outgunned (What?)
Outmanned (What?)
Outnumbered
Outplanned (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 & 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

(Burr exits.)

[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
Nathaniel Green 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

[WASHINGTON & 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 & 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/WOMEN]
Boom!
Whoa, whoa, whoa
I'll write to Congress and tell ‘em we need supplies, you rally the guys,
Master the element of surprise
Chicka-boom!
Whoa, whoa, whoa...
I'll rise above my station, organize your information
Whoa, whoa, whoa...
'Til we rise to the occasion of our new nation. Sir!

[ENSEMBLE]
Here comes the General!

[HAMILTON]
Rise up!

[LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN]
What?

[ENSEMBLE]
Here comes the General!

[HAMILTON/SCHUYLER SISTERS/WOMEN]
Rise up!

[LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN]
What?

[ENSEMBLE]
Here comes the General!

[HAMILTON/SCHUYLER SISTERS]
Rise up!

[LAURENS/LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN]
What?

[COMPANY]
Here comes the General!

[HAMILTON]
What?

[WASHINGTON]
And his right hand man!

[COMPANY]
Boom!
Write the lyrics for a rap song made in 2015, titled "Right Hand Man", by artist "Christopher Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom, Jr. & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton"".