Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) Lyrics

Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) - Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton

...

The battle of Yorktown, 1781

Monsieur Hamilton

Monsieur Lafayette

In command where you belong

How you say, no sweat

Finally on the field, we've had quite a run

Immigrants, we get the job done

So what happens if we win?

I go back to France

I bring freedom to my people

If I'm given the chance

We'll be with you when you do

Go lead your men

I see you on the other side

'Til we meet again, let's go!

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!

'Til the world turns upside down

'Til the world turns upside down!

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! (What?)

The bullets out your gun! (What?)

We move undercover 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? (Rochambeau!)

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

We'll never be free until we end slavery!

When we finally drive the British away

Lafayette is there waiting in Chesapeake Bay!

How did we know that this plan would work?

We had a spy on the inside, that's right

Hercules Mulligan!

A tailor spyin' on the British government!

I take their measurements, information and then I smuggle it! (Up)

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!

Left! Right! Hold!

Go!

What! What! What!

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

We lower our guns as he frantically waves a white handkerchief

And just like that, it's over, we tend to our wounded, we count our dead

Black and white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedom

Not yet

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

The world turned upside down

The world turned upside down

The world turned upside down

The world turned upside down

Down, down, down, down

Freedom for America, freedom for France!

Down, down, down

Gotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son

Down, down, down

We won!

We won!

We won!

We won!

The world turned upside down!