The letter notes below are from from the 2014 Broadway show, Hamilton The Musical. The song “Burn” is sung beautifully by Phillipa Soo.
It’s a lovely piece to play, the aspect I found trickiest was getting the timings right! Good luck and happy practice =)
A A A-A A-F# D E F#
I saved every letter you wrote me
F# F# F#-F# F# F# E
From the moment I read them
.A D E F# F#
I knew you were mine
.A D E F# F#
You said you were mine
.A D E F# F#-E-D
I thought you were mine…
A A A A A-A-G-F# E
Do you know what Angelica said
D D .A .A .A .A-F# F#-F#
When we saw your first letter arrive?
D D
She said
D F#-E E E D D
“Be careful with that one, love.
D D F#-E E E E D D – D
He will do what it takes to survive.”
.A .B .A A A – F# D E-D
You and your words flooded my senses
.A A-F#-F# D E D-A-F#
Your sentences left me defenceless
D E D A-F#-F#
You built me palaces
E E E-D-D
Out of paragraphs
D E D-A-F#
You built cathedrals…
A A – A – A A A-F#
I’m re-reading the letters
D E F#
You wrote me…
F# F# – F# F# F#-F#
I’m searching and scanning
F# F#-E .A D-E-F# F#
For answers in every line
.A D E F# F#
For some kind of sign
.A D E F# F#-E-D
And when you were mine…
F# F# E D F#
The world seemed to burn…
F#-E-D-E-D
Burn….
A A – A A A-F# D E F#
You published the letters she wrote you
A A A A A
You told the whole world
F# E E D .A
How you brought this girl
D E F# F#
In to our bed
.A D-E F# F#
In clearing your name
.A .A D-E F# F#-E-F#-E-D
You have ruined our lives ~ ~
A A A A B-B-F#-F# F#
Do you know what Angelica said
.A .A .A .A F# F#
When she read what you’d done?
D D
She said…
D D F#-E E E-D-D
“You have married an Icarus
D D F# E E D D D
He has flown too close to the sun.”
.A .B .A A
You and your words
A – A F# E E-D-D
Obsessed with your legacy….
A A-F#-F# D-E D A – F#
Your sentences border on senseless
D E D A-F#-E
And you are paranoid
E E-E E-D-D
In every paragraph
D E D A-F# F#
How they perceive you…
G-F# G-F#
You, you
G-F#-G-F#
You…
A A-A-A A-A
I’m erasing myself
F# D E-F#-E
From the narrative
F# F#-F# F#-F#-F#-F#
Let future historians
F#-E .A .A-D-E F#-F#-E
Wonder how Eliza reacted
.A D E F# F#-E-D
When you broke her heart…
D D E F# F# F#-F#
You have torn it all apart….
F# F# F#-E-D F# F#-A-G-F#
I am watching it burn ~
D-E-F# F# F#-A-B
Watching it burn ~
A A F# E E E E-D D
The world has no right to my heart
D A F# E E F# E F#
The world has no place in our bed
D A F# E E F# E F#
They don’t get to know what I said
D A – F# E E-D-D
I’m burning the memories
A – F# E E – D D
Burning the letters that
D E D – E F#
Might have redeemed you…
A ^D – A G G A G-F# F#
You forfeit all rights to my heart
A ^D – A G G A G A
You forfeit the place in our bed
A ^D A G G-A G – A
You sleep in your office instead
A ^D-A A G-F#-F#
With only the memories
F# ^D A G A
Of when you were mine…
.A D E A A
I hope that you burn…