Gm                        F
I am not throwing away my shot …
     Bb                        G7
I am not throwing away my shot …
        Cm
Yo, I’m just like my country

I’m young, scrappy, and hungry
Dm      Eb                   D
And I’m not throwing away my shot


             Gm
I’m ‘a get a scholarship to King’s College
          F                   Bb
I prob’ly shouldn’t brag, but dag, I amaze and astonish
            G7         Cm
The problem is I got a lot of brains, but no polish
           Dm             Eb    -nc-
I gotta holler just to be heard …

With every word, I drop knowledge


      Gm                                          F
I’m a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal …
          Bb
Tryin' to reach my goal, my power of speech…
Cm                                  Dm
Only nineteen, but my mind is older …
      Eb                            D
These New York City streets getting colder, I shoulder ev’ry


Gm                                                  F
Burden, ev’ry disadvantage I have learned to manage …
        Bb
I don’t have a gun to brandish
                     -nc-
I walk these streets famished
    Cm                                     Dm
The plan is to fan this spark into a flame …
    Eb                                 D
But damn, it's getting dark, so let me spell out my name


         Gm             F  Bb
I am the A-L, E-X, A-N, D, E-R
                   -nc-
We are meant to be …
      Cm                         Dm
A colony that runs independently …
           Eb                           D
Meanwhile, Britain keeps xxxxting on us endlessly


         Gm                           F
Essentially, they tax us relentlessly …
          Bb                                         G7
Then King George turns around, runs a spending spree …
         Cm
He ain’t never gonna set his descendants free
Dm            Eb              D
So there will be a revolution in this century


-nc-
Enter me!
    Gm
-He says in parentheses-
F        Bb
Don’t be shocked when your history book mentions me
G7     Cm
I will lay down my life if it sets us free
DmEb                        D
Eventually you’ll see my ascendancy


         Gm                                  F
And I am not throwing away my shot -my shot- …
     Bb                                  G7
I am not throwing away my shot -my shot- …
            Cm
Hey yo, I’m just like my country

I’m young, scrappy, and hungry
Dm      Eb                    D
And I’m not throwing away my shot


     Gm                        F
I am not throwing away my shot …
     Bb                        G7
I am not throwing away my shot …
            Cm
Hey yo, I’m just like my country

I’m young, scrappy, and hungry
Dm      Eb                   D
And I’m not throwing away my shot


                          Gm
It’s time to take a shot! …
                                     F
I dream of life without the monarchy …
Bb                                            G7
… The unrest in France will lead to "onarchy" …
Cm                                    Dm
"Onarchy?" How you say, how you s…Oh, anarchy!
Eb                              D
… When I fight I make the other side panicky


           Gm
With my my shot!
                              F
Yo, I’m a tailor’s apprentice …
      Bb                                      G7
And I got y’all knuckleheads in loco parentis …
    Cm
I’m joining the rebellion ‘cuz I know it’s my chance
Dm       Eb                      D
To socially advance, instead of sewin’ some pants


                 Gm
I’m gonna take a shot!
                                  F
Eh, but we’ll never be truly free …
   Bb                                                     G7
Until those in bondage have the same rights as you and me …
Cm                                      Dm      Eb
You and I, do or die, wait ‘til I sally in on a stallion
               D
With the first black battalion


             Gm
Have another shot!
                            F
Geniuses, lower your voices …
    Bb                                               G7
You keep out of trouble, and you double your choices …
    Cm                                     Dm
I’m with you, but the situation is fraught …
       Eb                  D
You’ve got to be carefully taught:


                              Gm
If you talk, you’re gonna get shot!
                        F
Burr, check what we got …
    Bb
Mr. Lafayette hard rock like Lancelot
G7           Cm
I think your pants look hot
                          Dm
Laurens, I like you a lot …
              Eb                       D
Let’s hatch a plot blacker than the kettle callin’ the pot


             Gm                                         F
What are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot …
          Bb
Poppin’ a squat on conventional wisdom, like it or not
G7         Cm                           Dm
A bunch of revolutionary manumission abolitionists
-nc-
Give me a position, show me where the ammunition is

Oh, am I talkin’ too loud?

Sometimes I get over excited, shoot off at the mouth

I never had a group of friends before

I promise that I’ll make y’all proud

Let’s get this guy in front of a crowd!


D    Gm                        F
I am not throwing away my shot …
     Bb                        G7
I am not throwing away my shot …
            Cm
Hey yo, I’m just like my country

I’m young, scrappy, and hungry
        Eb                   D
And I’m not throwing away my shot


     Gm                        F
I am not throwing away my shot …
     Bb                        G7
I am not throwing away my shot …
            Cm
Hey yo, I’m just like my country

I’m young, scrappy, and hungry
        Eb                   D
And I’m not throwing away my shot

Everybody sing!
Gm                    Bb
Woah-woah, woah-oh-oh …
             Ebmaj7
Hey, woah-oh-oh

Wooh!!
        D7
Woah-oh-oh

Sing, let ‘em hear ya -Yeah-


          Gm                    Bb
Let’s go! Woah-woah, woah-oh-oh …
                                          Ebmaj7
I said, shout it to the rooftops, woah-oh-oh
                              D7
Said to the rooftops, woah-oh-oh

Now come on -Yeah-

Now come on, let’s go!


Gm                                            Bb
Rise up when you’re living on your knees, you rise up
                                   Ebmaj7
Tell your brother that he’s got to rise up
                                   D7
Tell your sister that she’s got to rise up

When are these colonies gonna


 Gm
 Rise up -Whoa, woah-
                        E     Bb
When are these colonies gonna rise up -Woah-
                        G7    Cm
When are these colonies gonna rise up -Woah-
                        Dm    Eb
When are these colonies gonna rise up -Woah-
D       -nc-
Rise up …


          Gm
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 coming, do I run or do I let it be?
D7
Is it like a beat without a melody?


             Gm
See, I never thought I’d live past twenty
                  Bb
Where I come from some get half as many
            Ebmaj7                                       D7
Ask anybody why we livin’ fast and we laugh, reach for a flask

We have to make this moment last, that’s  plenty


Gm
Scratch that!
                                        Bb
This is not a moment, it’s the movement …
                                                              Ebmaj7
Where all the hungriest brothers with something to prove went …

Foes oppose us, we take an honest stand
D7
We roll like Moses, claimin’ our Promised Land


Gm                               Bb
And? If we win our independence? …

That a guarantee of freedom for our descendants?
Ebmaj7
Or will the blood we shed begin an endless
D7
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 fightin’
                             Cm
I’ve been readin’ ‘n writin’  …
                                          Eb
We need to handle our financial situation …
                   D
Are we a nation of states? What’s the state of our nation?


Gm
…I’m past patiently waitin’!
              F  Bb
I’m passionately smashin’ every expectation
                         G7
Every action’s an act of creation
     Cm
I’m laughin’ in the face of casualties and sorrow
        D     -nc-
For the first time, I’m thinkin’ past tomorrow


D7       Gm                        F
And I am not throwin’ away my shot …
     Bb                        G7
I am not throwin' away my shot …
             Cm
Hey, yo, I’m just like my country

I’m young, scrappy, and hungry
        Eb                  D
And I’m not throwin’ away my shot


            Gm
We’re gonna rise up, time to take a shot

-Not thrown’ away my shot-
      F     Bb
We’re gonna rise up, time to take a shot

-Not thrown’ away my shot-
      G7    Cm
We’re gonna rise up, rise up

-Rise up, rise up-

It’s time to take a shot
 Gm
-Rise up, rise up-
                          Cm
It’s time to take a shot -Rise up, rise up-
                                         Gm
-Woah, oh, oh- Time to take a shot -Rise up-

Take a shot, a shot, a shot -Woah, oh, oh-


           D7
A-yo, it’s time to take a shot -Woah, oh-oh oh-

Time to take a shot -Woah-oh-

And I am

And I am not throwing away my
                     Gm
Not throwing away my shot!