[JAMES LAFAYETTE]
I am not throwing away my shot!
I am not throwing away my shot!
Hey yo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy and hungry
And I’m not throwing away my shot!
Using espionage to escape bondage
I prob’ly shouldn’t brag, but dag, Lafayette’s calling
The problem is I got a lot of brains but I’m a novice
I gotta follow every word that can be heard
With every transfer, I drop knowledge!
They will never call my bluff, double agent is the role
Tryin’ to reach my goal
My power of breach: inconcievable
Only twenty but I’ll sub as soldier
These Virginia gov’ners gettin’ bolder, I shoulder
Ev’ry burden, ev’ry disadvantage
I have learned to manage, I don’t have a gun to brandish
I farmed those fields famished
The plan is to beat Cornwallis at his own game
But damn, it’s getting dark, so let me spell out the name
He is a—

[JAMES LAFAYETTE/ENSEMBLE]
G-E-N-E-R-A-L—L-Y, that’s why, I can tell I’m generally
[JAMES LAFAYETTE]
A servant viewed with integrity
Meanwhile, I’m deceiving him tremendously
Essentially, they talk rather recklessly
Cornwallis turns around, blurts his plans, carefree
He ain’t ever gonna catch my deal with Marquis
So I will be the solution to trap the enemy
Enter me!

[ENSEMBLE]
(He says in parentheses)

[JAMES LAFAYETTE]
Don’t be shocked when your hist’ry book mentions me
I will lay down my life if it sets me free
Eventually, I’ll earn independence
See--

[ENSEMBLE]
I am not throwing away
My shot
I am not throwing away
My shot
Hey yo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy and hungry
And I’m not throwing away my shot
My shot!

My shot!

And I’m not throwing away my shot

I am not throwing away my shot
I am not throwing away my shot
Hey yo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy and hungry
And I’m not throwing away my shot
It’s time to take a shot!

[BLACK BRITISH SOLDIER]
I dream of life with my own property
The unrest in U.S. will lead to poverty
‘Poverty? How you say, how you say, ‘Poverty?’
When I’m free in G.B., I’ll be more scholarly
With my—

[ENSEMBLE]
Shot!

[AFRICAN-AMERICAN SOLDIER]
Yo, I’m down for this incentive
And I got brothers hustlin’, we all rule the census
I’m joining the rebellion cuz I know it’s my chance
To socially advance, I’ve gotta take on a stance!
I’m gonna take a—
[ENSEMBLE]
Shot!

[FREED, ENLISTED SOLDIER]
But we’ll never be truly free
Until those in bondage have the same rights as you n' me
You and I. Do or die. Wait till I sally in
On a stallion with the first black battalion
Have another—

[ENSEMBLE]
Shot!

[SLAVE]
Geniuses, lower your voices
You keep out of trouble and you double your choices
I’m with you, but the situation is fraught
You’ve got to be carefully taught:
If you talk, you’re gonna get shot!

[JAMES LAFAYETTE]
Yo, check what we got
A black patriot, just one of the thousands armed
Sit still? I just cannot
This war was meant to be fought
Let’s hatch a plot blacker than the kettle callin’ the pot...
What are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot
Poppin’ a squat on conventional racism, like it or not
A bunch of revolutionary manumission abolitionists?
Give me a position, tell me where the competition is!

Oh, am I talkin’ too loud?
Sometimes I get over excited, shoot off at the mouth
I never had a chance to be free before
I promise that I’ll make y’all proud

[BLACK ENLISTED SOLDIER]
Let’s get this guy in front of a crowd

[ENSEMBLE]
I am not throwing away my shot
I am not throwing away my shot
Hey yo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy and hungry
And I’m not throwing away my shot

I am not throwing away my shot
I am not throwing away my shot
Hey yo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy and hungry
And I’m not throwing away my shot

[BRITISH BLACK SOLDIER]
Ev’rybody sing:
Whoa, whoa, whoa
Hey!
Whoa!
Wooh!!
Whoa!
Ay, let ‘em hear ya!

Let’s go!

I said shout it to the rooftops!
Said, to the rooftops!
Come on!

Come on, let’s go!
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Whoa!

Whoa!

Yea!

[ENSEMBLE]
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa!

Yea!

[AFRICAN-AMERICAN SOLDIER]
Rise up!
When you’re living on your knees, you rise up
Tell your brother that he’s gotta rise up
Tell your neighbor that he's gotta rise up

[ENSEMBLE]
When are these prodigies gonna rise up?
When are these prodigies gonna rise up?
When are these prodigies gonna rise up?
When are these prodigies gonna rise up?

Rise up!
Whoa! Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa!

Rise up!

[JAMES LAFAYETTE]
I imagine rights so much they feel more like a memory
How long will they vet me?
Will it keep? Will they just discredit me?
If I see 'em comin’, do I run or do I let it be?
Is the risk worth the remedy?
See, I never thought I’d live past twenty
Where I come from some get half as many
Ask anybody why we do as asked, and we laugh, off to the next task
We have to keep strong and steadfast, I’m ready

Scratch that
This is not a moment, it’s a movement
Where all the hungriest brothers with
Something to prove went?
Hope before us, we grab a promised hand
We steer the focus, release is our one demand
And? If we win our independence?
Is that a guarantee of freedom for our descendants?
Or will the blood we shed begin an endless
Cycle of vengeance and death with no defendants?
I know the action on the field is tirin’
But Jesus, between all the bleedin’ ‘n fightin’
I’ve been readin’ ‘n writin’
We need to handle our substantial segregation
Are we a nation of hate? Where’s the hate of enslavement?
I’m past patiently waitin’. I’m passionately
Smashin’ every expectation
Every action’s an act of creation!
I’m laughin’ in the face of casualties and sorrow
For the first time, I’m thinkin’ past tomorrow

[ENSEMBLE]
And I am not throwing away my shot
I am not throwing away my shot
Hey yo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy and hungry
And I’m not throwing away my shot

We’re gonna rise up! Time to take a shot!
We’re gonna rise up! Time to take a shot!
We’re gonna

Time to take a shot!

Take a shot!
Shot!
Shot!
A-yo it’s
Time to take a shot!
Time to take a shot!
And I am—
Not throwing away my shot
Not throwing away my shot

We’re gonna

Rise up!
Rise up!

Rise up!
Rise up!

Rise up!
Rise up!

Ri— ri— ri—

Time to take a shot!
Time to take a shot!
And I am—
Not throwin’ away my—
Not throwin’ away my shot!