Valley Forge - Lin-Manuel Miranda

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The Hamilton Mixtape

The Hamilton Mixtape…

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Valley Forge, Winter 1778

Thomas Paine:

«These are the times that try men’s souls.

The summer soldier and the sunshine

patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country;

but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered;

yet we have this consolation with

us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.»

I am seeing the best minds of my generation

Waste away in pestilence and starvation

Is this all a test or have we met our doom?

Have we set up camp or parameters for our tomb?

I have never seen His Excellency so despondent

So I’ve taken over writing all his correspondence

I have written Congress and received dishonest responses

I am beyond comprehension of their nonsense

They say, «Saddle up!

Attack the British forces!»

I shoot back, «We have resorted to eating our horses»

Local merchants deny us equipment, assistance

They only take British money, so sing a song of sixpence

Sixty tents full of dysentery, death, dying breaths

And dilettantes and deserters in the distance

Congress, I beg of you, justify your existence

Are you men, or just a bunch of indigenous infants?

Unite these states, give them stakes in our resistance

Do you have no influence at all, you fucking skinflints?

Hamilton, tone it down

But, sir!

Alex, listen.

There’s only one way for us to win this

Provoke outrage, outright

Don’t engage, strike by night

Remain relentless ‘til their troops take flight

Make it impossible to justify the cost of the fight

Outrun (Outrun), outlast (Outlast)

Hit ‘em quick, get out fast (Uh-huh)

Stay alive ‘til this horror show is past

We’re gonna fly a lot of flags half-mast (Yeah)