[Intro][theatrical delivery, crisp diction, marching snare roll] seventeen seventy-six Hark! Thy parchment crack! Hark! Thy people move! [Verse 1:Washington - 1700s Mid-Atlantic accent, gravelly commanding baritone, slow old-world dramatic tenor rap] I George Washington took thy post, came in with the frost on my coat, From the riv-ah to the road, I kept the oath King George on his throne, I talk not wide Just a cahrved-out jaw and a steady-eyed ride Boots on the boahrds, I stood so still Signed that name with a sold-yah’s will One hand on the map, one hand on fate If we bend, we break—if we wait, we wait! They called me calm, but I felt that fiah Ev-ah-ree quiet step a coiled-up wiah Made for the dawn, made for the line Made for the hour when the people align! [Pre-Chorus: All - Aggressive group chant, crisp classical old-world diction, stacked vocals] Hold thy breath! Count thy cost! If we move now, we all get crossed! [Chorus: All - Bombastic operatic classical hip hop chorus, massive crowd chant] Raise it up, 17-76! Raise it up, 17-76! Hands to the work, hearts in the mix! Raise it up, 17-76! [Verse 2:Jefferson -1700s southern-gentry drawl accent, soft spoken smooth high formal tenor rap] Thomas Jefferson with a gentry’s quill and thy sleeves rolled high I watched whole wehrlds in a nar-rah sky Ink on my thumb, lamp low in the room Ev-ah-ree word had weight, an em-pire’s doom Lib-er-ty’s light is a labored plot Ye writ for the soul, though ye face the shot Soft spoken man, with a mind like smoke Still I cut through doubt with a sin-gle stroke If the page was a gate, I opened it wide Stepped through first with the na-tion’s pride! [Verse 3][Hamilton - 1700s West-Indies-British fusion accent, Young aristocrat sharp theatrical Old-world tenor, rapid-fire rap] Young Ham-il-ton enters the fray, heav-ee with hun-gah and grit The crown o-vah the ocean sends a writ talk-ing thy shit My quills the speed of a storm on the rock My pamph-lets a tor-rent that no tie-rant can block! An or-phan boy from the breezy coast Vex-ing the King and his par-la-ment’s boast! No ped-i-gree, just the pow-ah of the pen We ah draw-ing the line, we ah mar-shal-ing men With a mercantile flow, let thy Tre-sur-ree ring! We ah build-ing a state that kneels to no king! [Verse 4][Adams - 1700s harsh old Boston accent, clipped colonial spinto bass, aggressive angey urgent rap] I John Adams staunch with a rous-ing tongue No coun-sel sur-ren-dered when thy chal-lenge was flung! Small in the frame but hard like steel I made my case for thy pub-lic weal I heard the redcoats, I heard the doubt The cow-ahds who clam-ored to par-ley and out! But I kept that flame in a clenched-up fist A sharp-edged voice the crown can't re-sist I don’t need silk when the truth runs free I can tell a whole crowd what they need to heed If the walls come close, I come back strong I was built for the fight and the push all along! [Verse 5][Madison -1700s West-Virginian accent, breathless-whispered precise formal tenor rap] James Mad-i-son, whis-p’ring fed-er-al pacts We need no monarch to dic-tate our acts I bal-ance the pow-ah, cre-ate the de-sign We legi-slate free-dom in a sov-er-eign line Frail in the bod-ee but feehrce in the mind Leav-ing the shad-ow of tea-rah-nee be-hind Ev-ah-ree fac-tion, I chart out the flaws We re-place the crown with the weight of our laws So bal-ance the courts, let the statutes a-lign A quiet arc-ah-tect leav-ing em-pires be-hind! [Verse 6][Franklin 70s -1700s Philadelphia accent, gutteral witty baritone rap] Ben-ja-min Franklin print-ing with a spark in the eye Pock-et full of light-ning, head full of sky I’ve seen the kite flash, I’ve seen em-pires bend Seen a bit-ter dark night crack at the fah-off end A jest on my lips, but I read the whole room As a spark wakes the pow-dah to an em-pire's doom Truth in the thun-dah, truth in the key Truth in the sci-ence that sets a man free Ev-ah-ree bold ven-ture needs cur-rage and guts Thy men that sac-ra-ficed thy lives, shall never be forgot So pass the damp page, let the ink still drip We’re a res-o-lute na-tion with a death-less grip! [Bridge: Alternate Voices - high energy] [Washington] When the drums come up, turn not away! [Adams] De-fy the crown, we stand to-day! [Jefferson] ’Tis the sov-er-eign shape that we wake. [Hamilton] For ev-ah-ree bond we mean to break! [Madison] One hard vow, a sa-cred line. [Franklin] Let the light-ning flash and the pages jine! [All - group chant] We swore the oath then, we up-hold it now! [Chorus: All Voices- Bombastic operatic classical hip hop chorus, massive crowd chant] Raise it up, 17-76! Raise it up, 17-76! Hands to the work, hearts in the mix! Raise it up, 17-76! [Outro] [Sounds of quill scratching stops, heavy footsteps on floorboards, slow fading snare roll] Hark! That parchment crack! Hark! Let Free-dom Ring! One hard vow. One liv-ing thing.
