Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)

The battle of Yorktown
1781

Monsieur Hamilton!
Monsieur Lafayette!
In command, where you belong
How you say? No sweat!
We're finally on the field, we've had quite a run
Immigrants: We get the job done!

So what happens if we win?
I go back to France
I bring freedom to my people if I'm given the chance

We'll be with you when you do
Go lead your men
I see you on the other side
'Til we meet again, let's go!

I am not throwin' away my shot
I am not throwin' away my shot
Hey, yo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot
I am not throwin' away my shot
'Til the world turns upside down
'Til the world turns upside down

I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory
This is where it gets me: On my feet, the enemy ahead of me
If this is the end of me, at least I have a friend with me
Weapon in my hand, a command and my men with me

Then I remember my Eliza's expecting me
Not only that, my Eliza's expecting
We gotta go, gotta get the job done
Gotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son

Take the bullets out your gun (what?)
The bullets out your gun (what?)
We move under cover and we move as one
Through the night, we have one shot to live another day
We cannot let a stray gunshot give us away

We will fight up close
Seize the moment and stay in it
It's either that or meet the business end of a bayonet
The code word is Rochambeau, dig me? (Rochambeau!)
You have your orders now, go, men, go!

And so the American experiment begins
With my friends all scattered to the winds
Laurens is in South Carolina, redefining brav'ry
We'll never be free until we end slavery

When we finally drive the British away
Lafayette is there waiting (in Chesapeake Bay)
How did we know that this plan would work?
We had a spy on the inside, that's right

(Hercules Mulligan!)
A tailor spying on the British government
I take their measurements, information and then I smuggle it up
To my brother's revolutionary covenant
I'm runnin' with the Sons of Liberty and I am loving it
See, that's what happens when you up against the ruffians
We in the shit now, somebody gotta shovel it
Hercules Mulligan, I need no introduction
When you knock me down, I get the fuck back up again

(Left! Right! Hold!)
Go!
(What? What? What?)

After a week of fighting
A young man in a red coat stands on a parapet
We lower our guns as he frantically waves a white handkerchief
And just like that, it's over
We tend to our wounded, we count our dead
Black and white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedom
Not yet

We negotiate the terms of surrender
I see George Washington smile
We escort their men out of Yorktown
They stagger home single file
Tens of thousands of people flood the streets
There are screams and church bells ringing
And as our fallen foes retreat
I hear the drinking song they're singing

The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down

(Down, down, down)
Freedom for America, freedom for France!
(Down, down, down) gotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son
(Down, down, down) we won, we won, we won, we won!

The world turned upside down