"Burn (Off-Broadway)" is the 18th song in Act Two and the 42nd song in the Off-Broadway production of Hamilton.
Lyrics[]
[ELIZA]
I saved every letter you wrote me
From the moment I read them
I knew you were mine
You said you were mine
I thought you were mine
Do you know what Angelica said
When we saw your first letter arrive?
She said
“Be careful with that one, love
He will do what it takes to survive.”
You and your words flooded my senses
Your sentences left me defenseless
You built me palaces out of paragraphs
You built cathedrals
I’m re-reading the letters you wrote me
I’m searching and scanning for answers
In every line
For some kind of sign
And when you were mine
The world seemed to
Burn
Burn
You published the letters she wrote you
You told the whole world how you brought
This girl into our bed
In clearing your name, you have ruined our lives
Do you know what Angelica said
When she read what you’d done?
She said
“You have married an Icarus
He has flown too close to the sun.”
You and your words, obsessed with your legacy...
Your sentences border on senseless
And you are paranoid in every paragraph
How they perceive you
You, you, you...
I’m erasing myself from the narrative
Let future historians wonder how Eliza
Reacted when you broke her heart
You have torn it all apart
I am watching it
Burn
Watching it burn
The world has no right to my heart
The world has no place in our bed
They don’t get to know what I said
I’m burning the letters
Burning the memories that might have redeemed you
You forfeit all rights to my heart
You forfeit the place in our bed
You sleep in your office instead
With only the memories
Of when you were mine
I hope that you burn
Trivia[]
- There is only one small difference between this and the final version: Eliza says "Burning the letters, burning the memories" instead of "Burning the memories, burning the letters". This suggests Eliza's pain does not change in either production.