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"Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)" is the 20th song of Act One of Hamilton.

In this song, The Battle of Yorktown (of 1781) occurs, as well as all of the events during this period.

Lyrics[]

[COMPANY]
The battle of Yorktown. 1781

[LAFAYETTE]
Monsieur Hamilton

[HAMILTON]
Monsieur Lafayette

[LAFAYETTE]
In command where you belong

[HAMILTON]
How you say, no sweat
We're finally on the field. We’ve had quite a run

[LAFAYETTE]
Immigrants:

[HAMILTON & LAFAYETTE]
We get the job done

[HAMILTON]
So what happens if we win?

[LAFAYETTE]
I go back to France
I bring freedom to my people if I am given the chance

[HAMILTON]
We’ll be with you when you do

[LAFAYETTE]
Go, lead your men

[HAMILTON]
See you on the other side

[LAFAYETTE]
‘Til we meet again, let’s go!

[ENSEMBLE]
I am not throwin’ away my shot!
I am not throwin’ away my shot!
Hey yo, I’m just like my country, I’m young
Scrappy and hungry
And I’m not throwin’ away my shot!
I am not throwin’ away my shot!

[HAMILTON]
‘Til the world turns upside down...

[ENSEMBLE]
‘Til the world turns upside down!

[HAMILTON]
I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory
This is where it gets me: on my feet
The enemy ahead of me
If this is the end of me, at least I have a friend with me
Weapon in my hand, a command, and my men with me

Then I remember my Eliza’s expecting me...
Not only that, my Eliza’s expecting
We gotta go, gotta get the job done
Gotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son!
Take the bullets out your gun!

[ENSEMBLE]
What?

[HAMILTON]
The bullets out your gun!

[ENSEMBLE]
What?

[HAMILTON]
We move under cover and we move as one
Through the night, we have one shot to live another day
We cannot let a stray gunshot give us away
We will fight up close, seize the moment and stay in it
It’s either that or meet the business end of a bayonet
The code word is ‘Rochambeau,’ dig me?

[ENSEMBLE]
Rochambeau!

[HAMILTON]
You have your orders now, go, man, go!
And so the American experiment begins
With my friends all scattered to the winds
Laurens is in South Carolina, redefining bravery

[HAMILTON & LAURENS]
We’ll never be free until we end slavery!

[HAMILTON]
When we finally drive the British away
Lafayette is there waiting—

[HAMILTON/LAFAYETTE]
In Chesapeake Bay!

[HAMILTON]
How did we know that this plan would work?
We had a spy on the inside; that’s right

[HAMILTON & COMPANY]
Hercules Mulligan!

[MULLIGAN]
A tailor spyin’ on the British government!
I take their measurements, information and then I smuggle it

[COMPANY]
Up

[MULLIGAN]
To my brother's revolutionary covenant
I’m runnin’ with the Sons of Liberty and I am lovin’ it!
See, that’s what happens when you up against the ruffians
We in the shit now, somebody gotta shovel it!
Hercules Mulligan, I need no introduction
When you knock me down I get the fuck back up again!

[COMPANY]
Left! Right! Hold!
Go!
What! What! What!

[HAMILTON]
After a week of fighting, a young man in a red coat stands on a parapet

[LAFAYETTE]
We lower our guns as he frantically waves a white handkerchief

[MULLIGAN]
And just like that, it’s over. We tend to our wounded, we count our dead

[LAURENS]
Black and white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedom

[WASHINGTON]
Not yet.

[HAMILTON]
We negotiate the terms of surrender
I see George Washington smile
We escort their men out of Yorktown
They stagger home single file
Tens of thousands of people flood the streets
There are screams and church bells ringing
And as our fallen foes retreat
I hear the drinking song they’re singing...

[ALL MEN]
The world turned upside down

[FULL COMPANY]
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
Down
Down, down, down

[LAFAYETTE]
Freedom for America, freedom for France!

[COMPANY]
Down, down, down

[HAMILTON]
Gotta start a new nation
Gotta meet my son

[COMPANY]
Down, down, down

[MULLIGAN]
We won!

[LAFAYETTE]
We won!

[MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTE/LAURENS]
We won!

[MULLIGAN/LAFAYETTE/LAURENS/HAMILTON/WASHINGTON]
We won!

[COMPANY]
The world turned upside down!

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • When this song was performed live at the Tony Awards bayonets were removed from the dance, with the performers miming rifles. This was done out of sensitivity to the recent shooting at the Orlando nightclub Pulse which occurred the night before the Tonys broadcast on June 12, 2016.
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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