How does an immigrant, orphan, son of a poor woman
And a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence impoverished,
In squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?
The ten-dollar founding father without a father
Got a lot smarter by working a lot harder
By being a lot smarter
By being a self-starter by 14
He was placed in charge of a trading charter
And every day while slaves were being slaughtered and carted away
Across the waves, he struggled and kept his guard up
Inside, he was longing for something to be a part of
The brother was ready to beg, steal, borrow, or barter
Then a hurricane came and devastation reigned
Our man saw his future drip, dripping down the drain
Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain
And wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain
Well the word got around they said this kid is insane, man
Took up a collection just to send him to the mainland
Get your education, don’t forget from whence you came
And the world’s gonna know your name
What’s your name, man?
When he was ten his father split, full of it, debt-ridden
Two years later, see Alex and his mother bed-ridden
Half-dead sittin’ in their own sick, the scent thick
Moved in with a cousin, the cousin commuted suicde.
Left him with nothing but ruined pride, something new inside
A voice saying “Alex, ya gotta fend for yourself!”
He started retreatin’ and readin’ every treatise on the shelf.
(I think that’s right idk…)
There would’ve been nothing left to do for someone less astute
He would’ve been dead or destitute
Without a cent of restitution
(*committed, not commuted, but otherwise good)
Scammin’ for every book he can get his hands on
Planning for the future see him now as he stands on
The bow of a ship headed for a new land
In New York you can be a new man
.
