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’ma get a scholarship to King’s College I prob’ly 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 Tryin’ to reach my goal my power of speech, unimpeachable Only nineteen but my mind is older These New York City streets get colder, I shoulder Every burden, every 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 the 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 shittin’ on us endlessly Essentially, they tax us relentlessly Then King George turns around, runs a spending spree He ain’t ever gonna set his descendants free So there will be a revolution in this century Enter me, he says in parentheses Don’t be shocked when your hist’ry 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 a monarchy The unrest in France will lead to onarchy? Onarchy how you say, how you say, 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 'cause I know it’s my chance To socially advance, instead of sewin’ some pants I’m gonna take a shot 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 Mister 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 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 Whoa, whoa, whoa Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa Ay, let ‘em hear ya Let’s go Whoa, whoa, whoa I said shout it to the rooftops Whoa, whoa, whoa said, to the rooftops Whoa, whoa, whoa come on Come on, let’s go Rise up When you’re living on your knees, you rise up Tell your brother that he’s gotta rise up Tell your sister that she's gotta 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 comin’, 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 and 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? ‘Zat 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 passionatelymashin’ 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 It's time to take a shot Rise up, rise up, it's time to take a shot Rise up, it's time to take a shot Rise up, take a shot, shot, shot It's time to take a shot, time to take a shot And I am not throwing away my shot Not throwing away my shot