The World Was Wide Enough

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine

There are ten things you need to know

Number one

We rowed across the Hudson at dawn

My friend, William P. Van Ness, signed on as my

Number two

Hamilton arrived with his crew

Nathaniel Pendleton and a doctor that he knew

Number three

I watched Hamilton examine the terrain

I wish I could tell you what was happening in his brain

This man has poisoned my political pursuits

Most disputes die and no one shoots

Number four

Hamilton drew first position

Looking to the world like a man on a mission

This is a soldier with a marksman's ability

The doctor turned around so he could have deniability

Five

Now I didn't know this at the time

But we were near the same spot his son died (Near the same spot my son died)

Is that why?

Six

He examined his gun with such rigor

I watched as he methodically fiddled with the trigger

Seven

Confession time, here's what I got

My fellow soldiers will tell you I'm a terrible shot

Number eight

Your last chance to negotiate

Send in your seconds, see if they can set the record straight

They won't teach you this in your classes, but look it up

Hamilton was wearing his glasses

Why, if not to take deadly aim?

It's him or me, the world will never be the same

I had only one thought before the slaughter

This man will not make an orphan of my daughter

Number nine

Look him in the eye, aim no higher

Summon all the courage you require

Then count

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine

Number ten, paces, fire!

I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory

Is this where it gets me?

On my feet, several feet ahead of me?

I see it coming, do I run or fire my gun or let it be?

There is no beat, no melody

Burr, my first friend, my enemy

Maybe the last face I ever see

If I throw away my shot, is this how you'll remember me?

What if this bullet is my legacy?

Legacy, what is a legacy?

It's planting seeds in a garden you never get to see

I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me

America, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me

You let me make a difference, a place where even

Orphan immigrants can leave their fingerprints and rise up

I'm running out of time, I'm running and my time's up

Wise up, eyes up

I catch a glimpse of the other side

Laurens leads a soldier's chorus on the other side

My son is on the other side

He's with my mother on the other side

Washington is watching from the other side

Teach me how to say goodbye

Rise up, rise up, rise up, Eliza

My love, take your time

I'll see you on the other side

Raise a glass to freedom

He aims his pistol at the sky

Wait!

I strike him right between his ribs

I walk towards him, but I am ushered away

They row him back across the Hudson

I get a drink

I hear wailing in the streets

Somebody tells me, "You'd better hide"

They say Angelica and Eliza

Were both at his side when he died

Death doesn't discriminate

Between the sinners and the saints

It takes and it takes and it takes

History obliterates

In every picture it paints

It paints me and all my mistakes

When Alexander aimed at the sky

He may have been the first one to die

But I'm the one who paid for it

I survived, but I paid for it

Now I'm the villain in your history

I was too young and blind to see

I should've known, I should've known

The world was wide enough

For both Hamilton and me

The world was wide enough

For both Hamilton and me