Lin-Manuel Miranda Performs at the White House Poetry Jam
Dublin Core
Title
Lin-Manuel Miranda Performs at the White House Poetry Jam
Subject
Hamilton, Alexander
Miranda, Lin-Manuel
Musicals
United States -- History
Founding Fathers
White House Administrative Office (U.S.)
Miranda, Lin-Manuel
Musicals
United States -- History
Founding Fathers
White House Administrative Office (U.S.)
Description
Writer and star of the Broadway musical In the Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda performs "The Hamilton Mixtape" at the White House Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word on May 12, 2009. Accompanied by Alex Lacamoire.
Creator
The White House
Publisher
YouTube
Date
Performed 2009-05-12
Published to YouTube 2009-11-02
Published to YouTube 2009-11-02
Rights
The White House
Language
English
Type
Video
Moving Image Item Type Metadata
Transcription
0:00 (applause)
0:06 Lin-Manuel Miranda: I'm thrilled the White House called me tonight because I'm
0:11 actually working on a hip-hop album.
0:14 It's a concept album about the life of someone I think embodies
0:17 hip-hop Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton.
0:20 (laughter)
0:21 You laugh, but it's true!
0:23 He was born a penniless orphan in St. Croix of illegitimate
0:29 birth, became George Washington's right-hand man,
0:33 became Treasury Secretary, caught beef with every other
0:36 founding father.
0:38 And all in the strength of his writing,
0:40 I think he embodies the world's ability to make a difference.
0:43 So I'm going to be doing the first song from that tonight.
0:47 I'm accompanied by Tony and Grammy music director Alex Lacamoire.
0:50 (applause)
0:55 Anything you need to know -- I'll be playing Vice President Aaron Burr.
0:59 And snap along if you like.
1:04 ♪♪(piano playing)♪♪
1:07 How does a bastard orphan son of a whore and a Scotsman dropped
1:12 in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean,
1:15 my providence impoverished in squalor grow up to be a
1:19 hero and a scholar?
1:20 The ten dollar founding father without a father got a lot
1:24 farther by working a lot harder by being a lot smarter
1:28 by being a self-starter
1:30 By 14, they had placed him in charge of a trade and charter
1:34 And everyday, while slaves were being slaughtered or
1:36 carted away across the waves our Hamilton kept his guard up
1:40 Inside, he was longing for something to be a part of
1:43 The brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter
1:47 Then a hurricane came and devastation reigned
1:50 And our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain
1:53 Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain
1:57 And he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain
2:00 When the word got around, they said, this kid is insane, man,
2:04 took up a collection just to send him to the mainland
2:07 Get your education
2:08 Don't forget from whence you came
2:10 And the world is going to know your name
2:12 What's your name, man?
2:14 Alexander Hamilton
2:15 (laughter)
2:17 His name is Alexander Hamilton
2:20 And there's a million things he hasn't done
2:23 But just you wait, just you wait
2:26 When he was ten, his father split
2:28 Full of it. Debt ridden.
2:30 Two years later see Alex and his mother bedridden
2:34 Half dead sitting in their own sick the scent thick
2:37 And Alex got better but his mother went quick
2:41 Moved in with a cousin the cousin committed suicide
2:44 Left him with nothing but ruined pride
2:46 Something new inside a voice saying, Alex,
2:48 you got to fend for yourself
2:50 He started retreating and reading every treat
2:52 that's on the shelf
2:54 There would have been nothing left to do for someone lest astute
2:56 He would have been dead and destitute without a cent of restitution
3:00 Starting working, clerking for his late mother's landlord
3:03 Trading sugarcane and rum and all the things he can't afford
3:06 Skinned for every book he can get his hands on
3:10 Planning for the future, see him now as he stands on the bow of a
3:14 ship headed for a new land
3:16 In New York you can be a new man
3:19 The ship is in the harbor now see if you can spot him
3:23 Another immigrant coming up from the bottom
3:26 His enemies destroyed his rep, America, forgot him
3:29 And me I'm the damn fool that shot him
3:32 Alexander Hamilton
3:34 (laughter)
3:35 We were waiting in the weeds for you
3:38 You could never back down you always had to speak your mind
3:45 But Alexander Hamilton we could never take your deeds from you
3:51 In our cowardice and our shame, we will try to destroy your name
3:58 The world will never be the same Alexander!
4:08 Yeah, I'm the damn genius that shot him
4:11 (applause)
4:16 Thank you.
4:18 (applause)
0:06 Lin-Manuel Miranda: I'm thrilled the White House called me tonight because I'm
0:11 actually working on a hip-hop album.
0:14 It's a concept album about the life of someone I think embodies
0:17 hip-hop Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton.
0:20 (laughter)
0:21 You laugh, but it's true!
0:23 He was born a penniless orphan in St. Croix of illegitimate
0:29 birth, became George Washington's right-hand man,
0:33 became Treasury Secretary, caught beef with every other
0:36 founding father.
0:38 And all in the strength of his writing,
0:40 I think he embodies the world's ability to make a difference.
0:43 So I'm going to be doing the first song from that tonight.
0:47 I'm accompanied by Tony and Grammy music director Alex Lacamoire.
0:50 (applause)
0:55 Anything you need to know -- I'll be playing Vice President Aaron Burr.
0:59 And snap along if you like.
1:04 ♪♪(piano playing)♪♪
1:07 How does a bastard orphan son of a whore and a Scotsman dropped
1:12 in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean,
1:15 my providence impoverished in squalor grow up to be a
1:19 hero and a scholar?
1:20 The ten dollar founding father without a father got a lot
1:24 farther by working a lot harder by being a lot smarter
1:28 by being a self-starter
1:30 By 14, they had placed him in charge of a trade and charter
1:34 And everyday, while slaves were being slaughtered or
1:36 carted away across the waves our Hamilton kept his guard up
1:40 Inside, he was longing for something to be a part of
1:43 The brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter
1:47 Then a hurricane came and devastation reigned
1:50 And our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain
1:53 Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain
1:57 And he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain
2:00 When the word got around, they said, this kid is insane, man,
2:04 took up a collection just to send him to the mainland
2:07 Get your education
2:08 Don't forget from whence you came
2:10 And the world is going to know your name
2:12 What's your name, man?
2:14 Alexander Hamilton
2:15 (laughter)
2:17 His name is Alexander Hamilton
2:20 And there's a million things he hasn't done
2:23 But just you wait, just you wait
2:26 When he was ten, his father split
2:28 Full of it. Debt ridden.
2:30 Two years later see Alex and his mother bedridden
2:34 Half dead sitting in their own sick the scent thick
2:37 And Alex got better but his mother went quick
2:41 Moved in with a cousin the cousin committed suicide
2:44 Left him with nothing but ruined pride
2:46 Something new inside a voice saying, Alex,
2:48 you got to fend for yourself
2:50 He started retreating and reading every treat
2:52 that's on the shelf
2:54 There would have been nothing left to do for someone lest astute
2:56 He would have been dead and destitute without a cent of restitution
3:00 Starting working, clerking for his late mother's landlord
3:03 Trading sugarcane and rum and all the things he can't afford
3:06 Skinned for every book he can get his hands on
3:10 Planning for the future, see him now as he stands on the bow of a
3:14 ship headed for a new land
3:16 In New York you can be a new man
3:19 The ship is in the harbor now see if you can spot him
3:23 Another immigrant coming up from the bottom
3:26 His enemies destroyed his rep, America, forgot him
3:29 And me I'm the damn fool that shot him
3:32 Alexander Hamilton
3:34 (laughter)
3:35 We were waiting in the weeds for you
3:38 You could never back down you always had to speak your mind
3:45 But Alexander Hamilton we could never take your deeds from you
3:51 In our cowardice and our shame, we will try to destroy your name
3:58 The world will never be the same Alexander!
4:08 Yeah, I'm the damn genius that shot him
4:11 (applause)
4:16 Thank you.
4:18 (applause)
Duration
4:26
Files
Citation
The White House, “Lin-Manuel Miranda Performs at the White House Poetry Jam,” Dominican University SOIS Omeka Site, accessed May 19, 2024, http://108.166.64.190/omeka222/items/show/533.