The Obedient Servant Lyrics – Hamilton

Song Overview

Personal Review

Your Obedient Servant lyrics swirl like a poison-tipped waltz. First time I heard Leslie Odom Jr. hiss “A dot Burr,” I pictured two peacocks circling a dueling ground made of parchment. The song’s ¾ groove feels genteel on top, but the bass slides like a dagger under silk. Fifty years of covering stage scores and I still grin at the circus-organ flourish that punctuates Hamilton’s itemized burn list.

I call it the calm before the gunshot: three minutes where formality masquerades as civility, only to tumble into “Weehawken. Dawn.” It’s witty, petty, and lethal—court manners colliding with street-corner rhyme.

Song Meaning and Annotations

The title lifts straight from the real Burr-Hamilton correspondence, every note ending with the deferential sign-off “I have the honor to be, Your Obedt. St.” Miranda lets that antique courtesy curdle into sarcasm. Burr’s opening soliloquy spits eight insults in ten seconds; the minuet rhythm turns venom into pas-de-deux.

Genre & rhythm. Written in G-minor at 90 BPM, the track waltzes with clipped snare brushes and harpsichord stabs. That ¾ meter—rare in hip-hop—evokes court salons yet swings like a carousel that’s lost its brake.

Emotional arc. Burr begins wounded, rehearsing grievances; Hamilton answers with bureaucratic precision (“itemized list of thirty years of disagreements”). Their letters stack, volume rising, until Burr’s four-beat ultimatum—“Weehawken. Dawn. / Guns. Drawn.”—slams the door.

Historical touchpoints. The real 1804 exchange started after Dr. Charles D. Cooper leaked Hamilton’s “despicable opinion” of Burr. Miranda condenses weeks of parchment sparring into a single musical volley.

“Careful how you proceed, good man… Prepare to bleed, good man.”

Symbolic language. Burr’s refrain “room where it happens” returns as a ghost—he still wants access, but now the only chamber left is a killing field. Hamilton signs “A dot Ham” like a modern email sig—brisk, biting, cold.

Verse Highlights

Opening Rant

Burr lists Hamilton’s orphan backstory—once inspirational, now ammunition. The rhyme “whoreson / endorse-‘un” plants upper-crust accent comedy inside a rap couplet.

Hamilton’s Ledger

The “itemized list” line fires off machine-gun internal rhymes (“equivocate / sleeve / grievance”). Lacamoire mutes the low strings so every consonant lands like a ledger stamp.

Ultimatum Waltz

When Burr modulates to D-minor for “Prepare to bleed,” a circus pipe organ slithers in—mocking civility, foreshadowing duel pistols cocking.

Detailed Annotations

Your Obedient Servant arrives near the end of Hamilton like a velvet-gloved slap. What begins as a pair of exquisitely polite letters turns, stanza by stanza, into a formal declaration of mortal combat. The scene drips with powdered-wig etiquette, yet every flourish hides a blade. Below, the Genius annotations are reshaped into continuous prose that walks the waltz tempo, preserves their insight, and keeps one eye on the dueling ground.

Overview

The title and refrain borrow directly from the real Burr-Hamilton correspondence; each letter really did close with

I have the honor to be Your Obedient Servant.

We open on Burr’s smoldering recap of the previous song’s betrayal. He spits a warped echo of the show’s famous prologue:

How does Hamilton. An arrogant. Immigrant, orphan. Bastard, whoreson.

Musical Techniques

• The door-squeak motif. The piano riff that claps shut like a slamming door resurfaces here. It first launched the whole musical; now it slams Burr out of “the room where it happens,” the very space he craves.
• Minuet as menace. The genteel waltz slips in and out, sometimes morphing into what sounds like circus calliope, a sly nod to Dessa’s “Dixon’s Girl” from Miranda’s personal playlist. The graceful meter masks a brewing gunfight.
• Melodic callbacks. Hamilton’s reply borrows his tune from “Farmer Refuted,” another moment when pamphlets flew and tempers rose. Burr’s memory riff on Les Misérables—the angular phrase from “What Have I Done?”—whispers that he, like Valjean or Javert, is weighing a life-altering leap.
• Key ascent equals heat ascent. Each new verse modulates upward. Burr starts in D minor; by Hamilton’s last verse we sit in E minor, a full tone higher. The pitch climb traces Burr’s rising blood pressure until only bare drums underscore his final challenge.
• Harmony of doom. The men finally sing together on the closing line, their voices locking in stately thirds. It is only the second time since “Dear Theodosia” they have harmonized—and it seals the date of their duel.

Character Dynamics

Aaron Burr: from patient fox to cornered wolf. Ever since “Talk less. Smile more.” Burr has preferred ambiguity. Here he concedes that the strategy backfired. He blames his exclusion squarely on Hamilton’s endorsement of Jefferson, groaning,

You’ve kept me from the room where it happens. For the last time.

Weehawken. Dawn.

Alexander Hamilton: candor as shield. Hamilton replies with courtroom precision. He concedes nothing, instead demanding specificity:

You would need to cite a more specific grievance.

I don’t wanna fight.

Words become bullets. Each polite flourish—good man, your obedient servant—functions like a safety catch clicking off. By the time Burr writes,

Prepare to bleed, good man.

Thematic Elements

• Honor culture. Both men speak the language of courtesy while arranging lethal violence. The contrast highlights how codes of honor can justify escalation under a veneer of civility.
• Clarity versus opacity. Hamilton “wears his opinions on his sleeve”; Burr hides his in smiles. Their final letters crystallize that philosophical split. Hamilton claims the moral high ground—

  I’m tryin’ to do my best for our republic.

  —while branding Burr an opportunist:

  You stand only for yourself.

• Fate intertwined. Burr writes,

  As I reckon with the effects of your life on mine.

  The line acknowledges how their paths have knotted since 1776. The musical repeatedly frames them as twin forces; their harmony at the end underscores that fatal symmetry.
• Escalation by correspondence. The duet shows how written words, once published or passed hand-to-hand, acquire an unyielding permanence. Both men know letters can be reprinted, brandished in Congress, or lampooned in newspapers. Reputation is ink on paper.

Historical References

The Cooper letter. Burr cites physician Charles D. Cooper, who reported that Hamilton called Burr a “dangerous man” and hinted at an even “more despicable opinion.” That vague last clause is exactly the “specific grievance” Burr now demands Hamilton disown.

The real signatures. Burr truly ended with Your Obt. Servt. A. Burr, while Hamilton wrote A. Hamilton. Miranda shortens them to A. dot Ham and A. dot Burr for comic punch and perfect scansion.

Weehawken geography. Burr finally answers his own challenge—time and place—by naming the Jersey cliff where Philip Hamilton had fallen three years earlier. Today a plaque and the so-called Death Rock mark a spot near the original clearing.

The pamphlet habit. Hamilton boasts of never being shy; the real man authored fevered essays, laws, even a 95-page public confession of his affair. Burr’s complaint that no one knows what you believe mirrors Federalist distrust documented in Hamilton’s letters to James A. Bayard.

The itemized quarrel. From the first tavern meeting where Hamilton dismissed Burr’s caution, to the Senate seat Burr wrested from Philip Schuyler, to the torpedo Hamilton aimed at Burr’s presidential hopes—three decades of jabs accumulate. By 1804 neither man remembers who threw the first punch.

Closing Image

The song ends on a chilling call-and-response. Burr states the terms, Hamilton answers a heartbeat late:

Guns. Drawn. — You’re on.

Thus Your Obedient Servant compresses political rivalry, personal grievance, and the peril of wounded pride into three brisk minutes of waltzing bad manners—proof that in the early republic, civility could be lethal.

Song Credits

• Featured Vocals: Leslie Odom Jr. (Aaron Burr), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Alexander Hamilton)
• Producer: Bill Sherman, Alex Lacamoire, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Lin-Manuel Miranda
• Composer/Lyricist: Lin-Manuel Miranda
• Release Date: September 25 2015
• Genre: Waltz-Rap / Show Tune / Chamber-Hip-Hop
• Instruments: violin, viola, cello, harp, banjo, guitar, harpsichord, synth, percussion, drums, bass, keyboards
• Label: Atlantic Records
• Mood: Polite menace
• Length: 2 min 30 sec
• Track #: 43 on Hamilton: An American Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
• Language: English
• Poetic meter: Mixed iambic trimeter over ¾ rhythm
• Copyright © 2015 Atlantic Recording Corporation / 5000 Broadway Music

Songs Exploring Themes of Honor & Reputation

“Ten Duel Commandments” – Original Broadway Cast
Earlier in Act I, Hamilton teaches duel etiquette; here he faces the consequence. Both songs count off rules, but Your Obedient Servant swaps adolescent bravado for middle-aged spite.

“The Confrontation” – Les Misérables
Another duet where rivals trade moral barbs atop a quasi-classical motif. Javert and Valjean clash in 4/4; Burr and Hamilton dance in ¾, but both pieces weaponize harmony to underscore ideological rifts.

“We Both Reached for the Gun” – Chicago
Glib courtroom spin, ragtime bounce—Miranda’s pipe-organ wink likely nods to Kander & Ebb’s showbiz satire. Honor becomes PR, the waltz becomes charade.

Questions and Answers

Did the real letters end with “Your Obedient Servant”?

Yes—both men used the 18th-century courtesy closing “Your Obedt. St.” in every exchange.

What time-signature is the song?

3/4, rare for hip-hop, mimicking a minuet to highlight formal hostility.

Is the Disney+ film capture uncut?

The 2020 stream retains the full song at timestamp 02:18:33.

Has the track received RIAA certification?

Yes—Gold certification (? 500 K units) on Sept 15 2021.

How many Spotify streams?

Roughly 116 million plays and ~64 K daily streams as of July 2025.

Awards and Chart Positions

How to Sing?

Burr’s baritone lines roam A₂–D₄; practice legato triplets over a metronome clicking in three. Hamilton hovers B-flat₂–F₄, requiring crisp consonants to punch his “itemized list.” Keep breaths light—each letter feels like a bow before the blade.

Fan and Media Reactions

“Polite email energy until BAM—Weehawken!” – @FoundingNerd on TikTok

“My students now sign their essays ‘Your Obedient Servant’—thanks, Lin.” – history teacher on r/hamiltonmusical

“That harpsichord riff is pure villainy.” – YouTube comment

“Gold certification well deserved; the sass alone sells units.” – @ChartWatch2023

“Every argument text I send ends with ‘A dot Me.’” – u/LetterDuelist