Chords: Gm, F, Bb, G7, Cm, Dm, Eb, D, Ebmaj7, D7, E
Key:
Capo: no capo
GmFI am not throwing away my shot …
BbG7I am not throwing away my shot …
CmYo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy, and hungry
DmEbDAnd I’m not throwing away my shot
GmI’m ‘a get a scholarship to King’s College
FBbI prob’ly shouldn’t brag, but dag, I amaze and astonish
G7CmThe problem is I got a lot of brains, but no polish
DmEb N.C.
I gotta holler just to be heard …
With every word, I drop knowledge
GmFI’m a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal …
BbTryin' to reach my goal, my power of speech…
CmDmOnly nineteen, but my mind is older …
EbDThese New York City streets getting colder, I shoulder ev’ry
GmFBurden, ev’ry disadvantage I have learned to manage …
BbI don’t have a gun to brandish
N.C.
I walk these streets famished
CmDmThe plan is to fan this spark into a flame …
EbDBut damn, it's getting dark, so let me spell out my name
GmFBbI am the A-L, E-X, A-N, D, E-R
N.C.
We are meant to be …
CmDmA colony that runs independently …
EbDMeanwhile, Britain keeps xxxxting on us endlessly
GmFEssentially, they tax us relentlessly …
BbG7Then King George turns around, runs a spending spree …
CmHe ain’t never gonna set his descendants free
DmEbDSo there will be a revolution in this century
N.C.
Enter me!
Gm-He says in parentheses-
FBbDon’t be shocked when your history book mentions me
G7CmI will lay down my life if it sets us free
DmEb D
Eventually you’ll see my ascendancy
GmFAnd I am not throwing away my shot -my shot- …
BbG7I am not throwing away my shot -my shot- …
CmHey yo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy, and hungry
DmEbDAnd I’m not throwing away my shot
GmFI am not throwing away my shot …
BbG7I am not throwing away my shot …
CmHey yo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy, and hungry
DmEbDAnd I’m not throwing away my shot
GmIt’s time to take a shot! …
FI dream of life without the monarchy …
BbG7… The unrest in France will lead to "onarchy" …
CmDm"Onarchy?" How you say, how you s…Oh, anarchy!
EbD… When I fight I make the other side panicky
GmWith my my shot!
FYo, I’m a tailor’s apprentice …
BbG7And I got y’all knuckleheads in loco parentis …
CmI’m joining the rebellion ‘cuz I know it’s my chance
DmEbDTo socially advance, instead of sewin’ some pants
GmI’m gonna take a shot!
FEh, but we’ll never be truly free …
BbG7Until those in bondage have the same rights as you and me …
CmDmEbYou and I, do or die, wait ‘til I sally in on a stallion
DWith the first black battalion
GmHave another shot!
FGeniuses, lower your voices …
BbG7You keep out of trouble, and you double your choices …
CmDmI’m with you, but the situation is fraught …
EbDYou’ve got to be carefully taught:
GmIf you talk, you’re gonna get shot!
FBurr, check what we got …
BbMr. Lafayette hard rock like Lancelot
G7CmI think your pants look hot
DmLaurens, I like you a lot …
EbDLet’s hatch a plot blacker than the kettle callin’ the pot
GmFWhat are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot …
BbPoppin’ a squat on conventional wisdom, like it or not
G7CmDmA bunch of revolutionary manumission abolitionists
N.C.
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!
DGmFI am not throwing away my shot …
BbG7I am not throwing away my shot …
CmHey yo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy, and hungry
EbDAnd I’m not throwing away my shot
GmFI am not throwing away my shot …
BbG7I am not throwing away my shot …
CmHey yo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy, and hungry
EbDAnd I’m not throwing away my shot
Everybody sing!
GmBbWoah-woah, woah-oh-oh …
Ebmaj7Hey, woah-oh-oh
Wooh!!
D7Woah-oh-oh
Sing, let ‘em hear ya -Yeah-
GmBbLet’s go! Woah-woah, woah-oh-oh …
Ebmaj7I said, shout it to the rooftops, woah-oh-oh
D7Said to the rooftops, woah-oh-oh
Now come on -Yeah-
Now come on, let’s go!
GmBbRise up when you’re living on your knees, you rise up
Ebmaj7Tell your brother that he’s got to rise up
D7Tell your sister that she’s got to rise up
When are these colonies gonna
Gm Rise up -Whoa, woah-
EBbWhen are these colonies gonna rise up -Woah-
G7CmWhen are these colonies gonna rise up -Woah-
DmEbWhen are these colonies gonna rise up -Woah-
D N.C.
Rise up …
GmI imagine death so much it feels more like a memory
BbWhen’s it gonna get me?
In my sleep? Seven feet ahead of me?
Ebmaj7If I see it coming, do I run or do I let it be?
D7Is it like a beat without a melody?
GmSee, I never thought I’d live past twenty
BbWhere I come from some get half as many
Ebmaj7D7Ask anybody why we livin’ fast and we laugh, reach for a flask
We have to make this moment last, that’s plenty
GmScratch that!
BbThis is not a moment, it’s the movement …
Ebmaj7Where all the hungriest brothers with something to prove went …
Foes oppose us, we take an honest stand
D7We roll like Moses, claimin’ our Promised Land
GmBbAnd? If we win our independence? …
That a guarantee of freedom for our descendants?
Ebmaj7Or will the blood we shed begin an endless
D7Cycle of vengeance and death with no defendants?
GmI know the action in the street is excitin’
BbBut Jesus, between all the bleedin’ ‘n fightin’
CmI’ve been readin’ ‘n writin’ …
EbWe need to handle our financial situation …
DAre we a nation of states? What’s the state of our nation?
Gm…I’m past patiently waitin’!
FBbI’m passionately smashin’ every expectation
G7Every action’s an act of creation
CmI’m laughin’ in the face of casualties and sorrow
D N.C.
For the first time, I’m thinkin’ past tomorrow
D7GmFAnd I am not throwin’ away my shot …
BbG7I am not throwin' away my shot …
CmHey, yo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy, and hungry
EbDAnd I’m not throwin’ away my shot
GmWe’re gonna rise up, time to take a shot
-Not thrown’ away my shot-
FBbWe’re gonna rise up, time to take a shot
-Not thrown’ away my shot-
G7CmWe’re gonna rise up, rise up
-Rise up, rise up-
It’s time to take a shot
Gm-Rise up, rise up-
CmIt’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-
D7A-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
GmNot throwing away my shot!