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"My Shot" is the third song of Act One of the Broadway musical Hamilton. It is the third song of the musical overall.

The main characters' ambitions are further established, particularly Hamilton's. Hamilton's verbal dexterity is also showcased here. This is the first time we learn of his way with words.

Lyrics[]

[HAMILTON]
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'mma 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 gettin' dark so let me spell out the name!
I am the-

[HAMILTON, LAURENS, LAFAYETTE, & MULLIGAN]
A-L-, E-X-, A-N-D-,
E-R, we are, meant to be!

[HAMILTON]
A colony, that runs independently!
Meanwhile, Britain keeps shittin' on us endlessly!
Essentially, they tax us relentlessly.
Then King George turns around and runs a spendin' spree.
He ain't never gonna set his descendants free,
So there will be a revolution in this century!
Enter me,

[LAURENS, LAFAYETTE & MULLIGAN]
He says in parentheses.

[HAMILTON]
Don't 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!

[HAMILTON] (LAURENS)
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,

[HAMILTON + LAURENS]
And I am not throwing away my shot!

[HAMILTON, LAURENS, LAFAYETTE, & MULLIGAN]
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!

[LAFAYETTE]
I dream of life without the monarchy,
The unrest in France will lead to onarchy,
'Onarchy, How you say? How you...?
Oh! Anarchy!
When I fight, I make the other side panicky with my--

[LAFAYETTE, HAMILTON, LAURENS, & MULLIGAN]
Shot!

[MULLIGAN]
Yo, I'm a tailor's apprentice,
And I got y'all knuckleheads in loco parentis,
I'm joinin' the rebellion, 'cause I know it's my chance to socially advance,
Instead of sewin' some pants!

[LAFAYETTE, HAMILTON, LAURENS, & MULLIGAN]
Take a shot!

[LAURENS]
But we'll never be truly free,
Unless those in bondage have the same rights as you and me,
You and I, do or die, wait until I sally in on a stallion,
With the first black battalion.
Have another,

[LAFAYETTE, HAMILTON, LAURENS, & MULLIGAN]
Shot!

[BURR]
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!

[HAMILTON]
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' in 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 talking too loud?
Sometimes I get overexcited, shoot off at the mouth,
I never had a group of friends before,
I promise that I'll make y'all proud.

[LAURENS]
Let's get this guy in front of a crowd!

[LAFAYETTE, HAMILTON, LAURENS, MULLIGAN, & ENSEMBLE]
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 am 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 am not throwing away my shot!

[LAURENS]
Everybody sing!
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Hey!
Whoooah!
Wooh!!
Whoooah!

Ay, let 'em hear ya!

Let’s go!


I said shout it to the rooftops!
Said, to the rooftops!
Come on!

Come on, let's go!

[HAMILTON, LAFAYETTE & MULLIGAN]
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Whoa!

Whoa!

Yea!

[COMPANY]
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa!

Yea!

[LAURENS]
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

[LAURENS & ENSEMBLE]
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!

[COMPANY]
Whoa! Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa!

Rise up!

[HAMILTON]
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 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 did all the hungriest brothers with somethin’ to prove went?
Foes oppose us, we take an honest stand
We roll like Moses, claiming 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!!

[HAMILTON & COMPANY]
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!

[HAMILTON, LAURENS, LAFAYETTE & MULLIGAN]
We’re gonna rise up! Time to take a shot!
We’re gonna rise up! Time to take a shot!
We’re gonna,

[ENSEMBLE]
Rise up!

[HAMILTON]
It’s time to take a shot!

[ENSEMBLE]
Rise up!


[HAMILTON/LAFAYETTE/
LAURENS/MULLIGAN]
Time to take a shot!

Time to take a shot!

Take a shot!
Shot!
Shot!
A-yo it’s
Time to take a shot!
Time to take a shot!
And I am—
[ENSEMBLE]
Not throwing away my shot

Not throwing away my shot

We’re gonna

Rise up!
Rise up!



Rise up!
Rise up!



Rise up!

Rise up!

Ri— ri— ri—


Time to take a shot!
Time to take a shot!
And I am—

 
[HAMILTON/LAFAYETTE/MULLIGAN/LAURENS]
Not throwin’ away my—

[COMPANY]
Not throwin’ away my shot!

Trivia[]

  • "My Shot" was the longest song in the musical for Lin-Manuel Miranda to write, spanning a year until the song was at the lyrical state and level it is now. Presumably, this is because the song contains the most intricate language and internal rhyming, conveying as much meaning as possible through a single song.
  • The song is one of the songs that were not cut from the Off-Broadway and later productions from the original The Hamilton Mixtape production.
  • Hercules Mulligan's lines from Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) were originally written for this song

Gallery[]


Songs in Hamilton (Broadway Production)
Act One
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
Tomorrow There'll Be More Of Us
Non-Stop
Act Two
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
The 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
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