Notes

How does a bastard, orphan, spawn of a whore
And a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot
In the Caribbean by providence impoverished
In squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?

The ten-dollar founding mother without a father
Got a lot farther by working a lot harder
By being a lot smarter
By being a self-starter
By fourteen, they placed her in charge of a trading charter

And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted away
Across the waves, she struggled and kept her guard up
Inside, she was longing for something to be a part of
The sister was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter

Then a hurricane came, and devastation reigned
Our girl saw her future drip, dripping down the drain
Put a pencil to her temple, connected it to her brain
And she wrote her first refrain, a testament to her pain

Well, the word got around, they said, this kid is insane, man
Took up a collection just to send her to the mainland
Get your education, don't forget from whence you came
And the world's gonna know your name
What's your name, kid?

Isabella Hamilton
My name is Isabella Hamilton
And there's a million things I haven't done
But just you wait, just you wait!

When she was ten her father split, full of it, debt-ridden
Two years later, see Bella and her mother bed-ridden
Half-dead sittin' in their own sick, the scent thick
(And Bella got better but her mother went quick)

Moved in with a cousin, the cousin committed suicide
Left her with nothin' but ruined pride, something new inside
A voice saying, "Bella, you gotta fend for yourself"
She started retreatin' and readin' every treatise on the shelf

There would have been nothin' left to do for someone less astute
She woulda been dead or destitute without a cent of restitution
Started workin', clerkin' for her late mother's landlord
Tradin' sugar cane and rum and all the shit she can't afford

Scammin' for every book she can get her hands on
Plannin' for the future see her now as she stands on
The bow of a ship headed for the new land
In New York you can be a new woman!

In New York you can be a new woman (just you wait)
In New York you can be a new woman (just you wait)
In New York you can be a new woman
In New York (New York)
Just you wait!

Isabella Hamilton
(Isabella Hamilton)
We are waiting in the wings for you
(Waiting in the wings for you)
You could never back down
You never learned to take your time

Oh, Isabella Hamilton
(Isabella Hamilton)
When America sings for you
Will they know what you overcame?
Will they know you rewrote the game?
The world will never be the same (oh)

The ship is in the harbor now
See if you can spot her (just you wait)
Another immigrant comin' up from the bottom (just you wait)
Her enemies destroyed her rep America forgot her

We, fought with her
Me, I died for her
Me, I trusted her
Me, I loved her
And me, I'm the damn fool that shot her (shot her, shot her)

There's a million things I haven't done
But just you wait
What's your name, kid?
Isabella Hamilton