Lafayette Interlude Lyrics — Hamilton

Song Overview

Personal Review

Lafayette Interlude Lyrics drop like a musket volley—brief, fierce, impossible to miss. Clocking in at just 1 minute 57 seconds, the 2014 workshop draft sketches the battle blueprint that Broadway audiences later knew as “Guns and Ships.” The tempo already crackles, but the tone is rawer: Burr banters, King George interrupts, and Lafayette hurls syllables faster than a fife-and-drum roll. Listening now, I hear the show’s DNA still shuffling, jokes poking out like unhemmed threads. Yet the central thrill—America’s “favorite fighting Frenchman” rapping a record-fast verse—was fully formed, just waiting for Daveed Diggs to ignite it the following year.

Song Meaning and Annotations

The interlude lands immediately after “That Would Be Enough,” yanking us from nursery hush into wartime swagger. Burr sets the scene—how can a ragtag force topple an empire?—before revealing the “secret weapon”: an immigrant general whose fluency in French and audacity in battle outfox the British. Lafayette’s boastful salvo (“I’m takin’ this horse by the reins…”) already barrels along at roughly 6.3 words per second, a speed FiveThirtyEight later confirmed as the fastest rap passage in Broadway history.

Workshop vs. Broadway. In 2014, King George pops in for a cheeky couplet—“Once we beat the traitors, we’ll be greeted as liberators!”—which Miranda later cut to preserve the king’s surprise re-entrance in Act II. The quip about “King George underestimating his haters” disappears, replaced on Broadway with the Betsy Ross “flag higher” rhyme.

Musical texture. Even in demo form, the track runs at a galloping 144 BPM, doubling snare on the off-beat to mimic cavalry hooves. A baritone trombone growl punctuates Washington’s entrance, while synth brass foreshadows the triumphant Yorktown horn line.

Historical lens. Lafayette really did sail home for funds in 1779 and return with soldiers, ships, and the strategic mind of General Rochambeau—exactly as the lyric promises. By folding that logistics lesson into a rap battle, Miranda turns supply-chain management into theater fireworks.

“We rendezvous with Rochambeau, consolidate their gifts.” —Washington

Foreshadowing Hamilton’s recall. Lafayette’s chant—“Ya need your right-hand man back!”—pressures Washington to reinstate Hamilton, teeing up the decisive Act I finale. The workshop keeps Washington’s awkward “Please,” later streamlined to “I know.”

Verse Highlights

Opening Trio (Burr ? King George ? Company)

The call-and-response “Yay!” lampoons colonial propaganda and was later jettisoned for pacing.

Lafayette’s Speed-Rap

At peak velocity (bar 23), Lafayette spits 19 words in three seconds—the same segment Daveed Diggs would immortalize on Broadway.

Right-Hand-Man Hook

The refrain’s triplet swagger foreshadows the snare cadence of “Yorktown,” musically linking the two war-map numbers.

Song Credits

• Featured Vocals: Isaiah Johnson (George Washington), Leslie Odom Jr. (Aaron Burr), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, Lafayette demo), Workshop Ensemble
• Producer: Lin-Manuel Miranda
• Composer/Lyricist: Lin-Manuel Miranda
• Workshop Debut: February 17 2015 (New 42nd Street Studios, NYC)
• Genre: Revolutionary War Rap / Proto-Show Tune
• Length: 1 min 57 sec (workshop)
• Key: B-minor (transposed to A-minor for Broadway)
• Label: Independent workshop demo (later Atlantic Records cast album as “Guns and Ships”)
• Mood: Exhilarating tactical flex
• Instruments (demo): drum machine, synth brass, electric violin pad
• Copyright © 2015 5000 Broadway Music

Songs Exploring Themes of Military Strategy & Speed-Rap

“Guns and Ships” – Original Broadway Cast
The polished successor: Daveed Diggs increases diction clarity, adds the Betsy Ross gag, and shifts King George off-stage. Studio orchestration layers live brass, electric guitar and marching snare, amplifying the battlefield pulse.

“Right Hand Man” – Hamilton Act I
Earlier, Washington begs Hamilton to join his staff. Where “Lafayette Interlude” hustles logistics, “Right Hand Man” dramatizes the chain of command; both songs hinge on immigrant ingenuity saving the continental cause.

“Cabinet Battle #1” – Original Broadway Cast
Another rap duel about resources—this time debt assumption vs. states’ rights. The meter slows to 96 BPM, but rhetorical musket-fire remains.

Questions and Answers

Is Lafayette Interlude officially released?

Only in bootleg workshop recordings and Miranda’s private SoundCloud demos; the cast album features its evolved form, “Guns and Ships.”

How fast is the rap section?

Roughly 6.3 words per second—still the fastest verified passage in a Broadway show.

Why was King George’s cameo removed?

Miranda felt the king’s early pop-in weakened the comedic surprise of “What Comes Next?” later in Act I.

Are there chart stats for the workshop track?

No. Streaming services list only the Broadway version, which has surpassed 236 million plays on Spotify.

Did Diggs improvise extra bars?

Yes—Miranda has said he “filled the vamp” once he realized Daveed’s breath-control prowess.

Awards, Streams & Milestones

How to Rap It?

The demo rides at 144 BPM in 4/4 (felt as cut-time two). Aim for crisp consonants and forward placement; Lafayette’s verse peaks between B-flat₃ and D₄. Practice tonguing sixteenth-note triplets with a metronome, then accent every eighth to keep phrases buoyant. Breathe on the rests after “Lafayette!”—Miranda wrote those choral shouts as built-in oxygen tanks.

Fan and Media Reactions

“Hearing King George pop in before ‘Guns and Ships’ feels like finding a deleted Marvel cameo.” – r/hamiltonmusical thread

“Workshop Lafayette isn’t as polished, but those 19 words in three seconds still slap.” – Reddit commenter

“Diggs calls it ‘medium fast’—the numbers say otherwise.” – Vox interview

“236 million streams later and I still can’t match that breath control.” – @HamiltonStats tweet

“Lin dropped this demo on SoundCloud like a grenade—changed my study playlist forever.” – SoundCloud user