The World Was Wide Enough
[COMPANY]
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9!
[BURR]
There are ten things you need to know!
[COMPANY]
Number one!
[BURR]
We rode across the Hudson at dawn. My friend, William P. Van Ness signed on as my...
[COMPANY]
Number two!
[BURR]
Hamilton arrived with his crew. Nathaniel Pendleton, and a doctor that he knew.
[COMPANY]
Number three!
[BURR]
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!
[COMPANY]
Most disputes die and no one shoots! Number four!
[BURR]
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.
[COMPANY]
Five!
[BURR]
Now, I didn't know this at the time, but we were:
[HAMILTON]
Near the same spot my son died!
[BURR]
Near the same spot your son died! Is that why...
[COMPANY]
Six!
[BURR]
He examined his gun with such rigour! I watched as he methodically fiddled with the trigger.
[COMPANY]
Seven!
[BURR]
Confession time, here's what I got. My fellow soldiers'll tell you I'm a terrible shot!
[COMPANY]
Number eight!
[BURR]
Your last chance to negotiate! Send in your seconds, see if they can set the record straight. Now, 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!
[COMPANY]
Number nine!
[BURR]
Look 'em in the eye, aim no higher! Summon all the courage you require, then count!
[COMPANY]
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9!
Number ten paces, fire!
*Gunshot*
[HAMILTON]
I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory! Is this where it gets me, on my feet, sev'ral 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. 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 time, I'm running out of time! Time's up! Wise up! Eyes up!
I catch a glimpse of the other side. Laurens leads a soldiers' chorus on the other side. My son is on the other side. He's with my other 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...
[COMPANY]
He aims his pistol at the sky!
[BURR]
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.
[COMPANY]
Ah, ah, oo...
[BURR]
I hear wailing in the streets.
[COMPANY]
Ah, ah, oo...
[BURR]
Someone tells me, "You'd better hide."
[COMPANY]
Ah, ah, oo...
[BURR]
They say, Angelica...
[ANGELICA]
Angelica.
[BURR]
And Eliza...
[ELIZA]
Eliza.
[BURR]
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, 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.