Hamilton's father abandoned them when he was a baby at some point, his mother moved the family to St. Born on the West Indies island of Nevis in either 1755 or ‘57, his father was a Scottish trader named James, and his mother, Rachel Fawcett Lavine, was married to someone else at the time (though they were separated). Took up a collection just to send him to the mainland …Įarly life was not easy for Alexander Hamilton. Well, the word got around, they said, “This kid is insane, man” Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brainĪnd he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain Our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned Got a lot farther by working a lot harderĪnd every day while slaves were being slaughtered and cartedĪway across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up. The ten-dollar founding father without a father Ahead of a movie version of the show featuring the original version of the cast hitting Disney Plus on July 3, we explain some lyrics below-make sure to read and listen along! (And these explanations are just the beginning you can find more over at Genius.) 1. The musical's lyrics are packed with references that made our inner history nerds rejoice. After centuries of being best known as that guy who was killed by Aaron Burr in a duel, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway musical, Hamilton, brought the achievements of the '10-dollar founding father' front and center-and rewrote what we think we know about history.

Hamilton the revolution