[Intro]
Cm Cm/Eb D7/F#
[Chorus]
Gm
I am not throwing away my shot
F/A Bb
I am not throwing away my shot
G7/B Cm
Hey yo, I’m just like my country, I’m young, scrappy and hungry
Cm/Eb D7/F#
And I’m not throwing away my shot
[Verse]
Gm
I’m ‘a get a scholarship to King’s College
F/A Bb
I prob’ly shouldn’t brag, but dag, I amaze and astonish
Bdim Cm
The problem is I got a lot of brains but no polish
Dm Ebm
I gotta holler just to be heard with every word, I drop knowledge
Gm
I’m a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal
F/A Bb Bdim
Tryin’ to reach my goal my power of speech, unimpeachable
Cm Cm/D
Only nineteen but my mind is older
Cm/Eb D7/A
These New York City streets get colder, I shoulder
Gm
Every burden, every disadvantage I have learned to manage
F/A Bb Bdim
I don’t have a gun to brandish I walk these streets famished
Cm Cm/D
The plan is to fan this spark into a flame
Cm/Eb D7/A
But damn, it’s getting dark, so let me spell out the name
Gm F/A Bb Bdim
I am the A-L-E-X-A-N-D-E-R we are meant to be
Cm Cm/D
A colony that runs independently, meanwhile
Cm/Eb D7/A
Britain keeps shittin’ on us endlessly
Gm
Essentially, they tax us relentlessly
F/A Bb Bdim
Then King George turns around, runs a spending spree
Cm
He ain’t ever gonna set his descendants free
Cm/D Cm/Eb D7/A
So there will be a revolution in this century
Gm
Enter me, he says in parentheses
F/A Bb
Don’t be shocked when your hist’ry book mentions me
Bdim Cm
I will lay down my life if it sets us free
Cm/D Cm/Eb D7/A
Eventually, you’ll see my ascendancy
[Chorus]
Gm
I am not throwing away my shot
F/A Bb
I am not throwing away my shot
G7/B Cm
Hey yo, I’m just like my country, I’m young, scrappy and hungry
Cm/Eb D7/F#
And I’m not throwing away my shot
Gm
I am not throwing away my shot
F/A Bb
I am not throwing away my shot
G7/B Cm
Hey yo, I’m just like my country, I’m young, scrappy and hungry
Cm/Eb D7/F#
And I’m not throwing away my shot
It's time to take a shot
[Verse]
Gm
I dream of life without a monarchy
Bb
The unrest in France will lead to onarchy?
Cm
Onarchy how you say, how you say, anarchy?
Eb D7/A
When I fight, I make the other side panicky
With my, shot
Gm
Yo, I’m a tailor’s apprentice
Bb
And I got y’all knuckleheads in loco parentis
Cm
I’m joining the rebellion 'cause I know it’s my chance
Eb D7/A
To socially advance, instead of sewin’ some pants
I’m gonna take a shot
Gm
But we’ll never be truly free
Bb
Until those in bondage have the same rights as you and me
Cm
You and I. Do or die. Wait till I sally in
Eb D7/A
On a stallion with the first black battalion
Have another shot
Gm
Geniuses, lower your voices
Bb
You keep out of trouble and you double your choices
Cm
I’m with you, but the situation is fraught
Eb
You’ve got to be carefully taught
D7/A
If you talk, you’re gonna get shot
Gm
Burr, check what we got
Bb
Mister Lafayette, hard rock like Lancelot
Cm
I think your pants look hot
Laurens, I like you a lot
Eb D7/A
Let’s hatch a plot blacker than the kettle callin’ the pot
Gm
What are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot
Bb
Poppin’ a squat on conventional wisdom, like it or not
Cm
A bunch of revolutionary manumission abolitionists?
Eb D7/A
Give me a position, show me where the ammunition is
N.C.
Oh, am I talkin’ too loud?
N.C.
Sometimes I get over excited, shoot off at the mouth
N.C.
I never had a group of friends before
N.C.
I promise that I’ll make y’all proud
N.C.
Let’s get this guy in front of a crowd
[Chorus]
Gm
I am not throwing away my shot
F/A Bb
I am not throwing away my shot
G7/B Cm
Hey yo, I’m just like my country, I’m young, scrappy and hungry
Cm/Eb D7/F#
And I’m not throwing away my shot
Gm
I am not throwing away my shot
F/A Bb
I am not throwing away my shot
G7/B Cm
Hey yo, I’m just like my country, I’m young, scrappy and hungry
Cm/Eb D7/F#
And I’m not throwing away my shot
[Verse]
Everybody sing
Gm9 Gm Bb
Whoa, whoa, whoa
Ebmaj7
Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa
D7
Ay, let ‘em hear ya
Let’s go
Gm9 Gm Bb
Whoa, whoa, whoa I said shout it to the rooftops
Ebmaj7
Whoa, whoa, whoa said, to the rooftops
D7
Whoa, whoa, whoa come on
Come on, let’s go
Gm
Rise up
Bb
When you’re living on your knees, you rise up
Ebmaj7
Tell your brother that he’s gotta rise up
D7
Tell your sister that she's gotta rise up
Gm
When are these colonies gonna rise up
F/A Bb
When are these colonies gonna rise up
G7/B Cm
When are these colonies gonna rise up
Cm/Eb
When are these colonies gonna rise up
D7/F#
Rise up
Gm9
I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory
Bb
When’s it gonna get me?
In my sleep, seven feet ahead of me?
Ebmaj7
If I see it comin’, do I run or do I let it be?
D
Is it like a beat without a melody?
Gm9
See, I never thought I’d live past twenty
Bb
Where I come from some get half as many
Ebmaj7
Ask anybody why we livin’ fast and we laugh, reach for a flask
D
We have to make this moment last, that’s plenty
Gm9 F/A
Scratch that this is not a moment, it’s the movement
Bb
Where all the hungriest brothers with something to prove went?
Ebmaj7
Foes oppose us, we take an honest stand
D7/F# D7
We roll like Moses, claimin’ our promised land
Gm9
And? If we win our independence?
Bb
‘Zat a guarantee of freedom for our descendants?
Ebmaj7 D7/F# D7
Or will the blood we shed begin an endless cycle of vengeance and death with no defendants?
Gm
I know the action in the street is excitin'
Bb
But Jesus, between all the bleedin’ ‘n fighting, I’ve been readin’ ‘n writ in’
Cm
We need to handle our financial situation
Eb D
Are we a nation of states what’s the state of our nation?
Gm F/A Bb
I’m past patiently waitin' I’m passionately smashin’ every expectation
Bdim
Every action’s an act of creation
Cm
I’m laughin' in the face of casualties and sorrow
Eb D7/F#
For the first time, I’m thinkin’ past tomorrow
[Chorus]
Gm
And I am not throwing away my shot
F/A Bb
I am not throwing away my shot
G7/B Cm
Hey yo, I’m just like my country, I’m young, scrappy and hungry
Cm/Eb D7/F#
And I’m not throwing away my shot
[Verse]
Gm
We’re gonna rise up (time to take a shot)
F/A Bb
We’re gonna rise up (time to take a shot)
G7/B Cm
We’re gonna, rise up, rise up
It's time to take a shot
Gm/D
Rise up, rise up, it's time to take a shot
Cm/Eb
Rise up, it's time to take a shot
Gm/F
Rise up, take a shot, shot, shot
D7/F#
It's time to take a shot, time to take a shot
And I am not throwing away my shot
Gm
Not throwing away my shot
