What'd I Miss Lyrics - Genius

2025, In ReviewFeaturedChartsVideosPromote Your MusicSign Up31What’d I MissDaveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr., Okieriete Onaodowan & Original Broadway Cast of HamiltonProducersBill Sherman, Alex Lacamoire & 3 moreTrack 24 onHamilton: An American Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording) Sep. 25, 20151 viewer1.3M views201 ContributorsTranslations

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What’d I Miss Lyrics

Daveed Diggs’s Lafayette leaves for France in Act I, and he returns to the stage in Act II as Thomas Jefferson, who was absent for large swaths of the Revolution and the early moments of the United States… Read More [COMPANY]SeventeenSe-se-seventeenSe-se-seventeen[BURR]1789How does the bastard, orphanImmigrant, decorated war vetUnite the colonies through more debt?Fight the other founding fathers 'til he has to forfeit?Have it all, lose it all, you ready for more yet?Treasury Secretary, Washington's the PresidentEvery American experiment sets a precedentNot so fast, someone came along to resist himPissed him off until we had a two-party systemYou haven't met him yet, you haven't had the chance'Cause he's been kickin' ass as the ambassador to FranceBut someone's gotta keep the American promiseYou simply must meet Thomas, Thomas[WOMEN, MEN, ALL]Thomas Jefferson's comin' homeThomas Jefferson's comin' homeThomas Jefferson's comin' homeThomas Jefferson's comin' homeThomas Jefferson's comin' homeLord, he's been off in Paris for so longAh-oohAh-oohSee Leslie Odom Jr. LiveGet tickets as low as $96You might also like[THOMAS JEFFERSON]France is followin' us to revolutionThere is no more status quoBut the sun comes up and the world still spins[ENSEMBLE]Ah-ooh[JEFFERSON]I helped Lafayette draft a declarationThen I said, "I gotta goI gotta be in Monticello"Now the work at home begins[ENSEMBLE]Ah-ooh[JEFFERSON]So what'd I miss? What'd I miss? MhVirginia, my home sweet home, I wanna give you a kissMwah, mhmI've been in Paris meetin' lots of different ladiesI guess I basically missed the late eightiesI traveled the wide, wide world and came back to this[ENSEMBLE]Ah-ooh[JEFFERSON]There's a letter on my desk from the PresidentHaven't even put my bag down yetSally be a lamb, darlin', won't ya open it?It says the President's assembling a cabinetAnd that I am to be the Secretary of State, greatAnd that I'm already Senate-approvedI just got home and now I'm headed up to New York[ENSEMBLE]Headin' to New York, headin' to New York[JEFFERSON, JEFFERSON & ENSEMBLE]Lookin' at the rollin' fields, I can't believe that we are freeReady to face whatever's awaitin' me in NYCBut who's waitin' for me when I step in the place?My friend James Madison, red in the faceHe grabs my arm and I respond, "What's goin' on?"[ENSEMBLE]Ah-ooh[JAMES MADISON]Thomas, we are engaged in a battleFor our nation's very soulCan you get us out of the mess we're in?[ENSEMBLE]Ah-ooh[MADISON]Hamilton's new financial planIs nothing less than government controlI've been fighting for the South aloneWhere have you been?[JEFFERSON]Uh, France[ENSEMBLE]Ah-ooh[MADISON]We have to win[JEFFERSON, ENSEMBLE, BOTH]Well, what'd I miss? (Wha-wha-what'd I miss?)What'd I miss? (I've come home to this?)Headfirst into a political abyssHeadfirst into the abyssI have my first cabinet meetin' today (Chik-a-pow)I guess I better think of somethin' to sayI'm already on my wayTo get to the bottom of thisWhat did I miss? Ah-ah[WASHINGTON]Mr. Jefferson, welcome home[HAMILTON]Mr. Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton[WASHINGTON & ENSEMBLE]Mr. Jefferson, welcome home[COMPANY]Mr. Jefferson, welcome homeSir, you've been off in Paris for so long[JEFFERSON]So what did I miss?31EmbedCancel

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AboutSong Bio2 contributors

Daveed Diggs’s Lafayette leaves for France in Act I, and he returns to the stage in Act II as Thomas Jefferson, who was absent for large swaths of the Revolution and the early moments of the United States, having served as Governor of Virginia during the war and Minister to France for much of the 1780s. Here, he asks the audience cheekily, “What did I miss?” The entirety of Act I, dude. Get on our level.

This song, and Thomas Jefferson’s style throughout the show, has a different sound than many of the other characters. Jefferson was older than Hamilton’s cohort by over a decade, and he has very different, and somewhat backwards priorities. To reflect that, his songs draw on old-school African American genres like ragtime, boogie-woogie and other Southern jazz flavors that pay homage to his Virginian loyalties. There are also pretty wonderfully apparent strains of funk & soul music, the genres that helped birth the hip hop movement embodied by Hamilton and his friends. His major musical inspirations were Gil Scott-Heron and Outkast. There’s also a lot of Cab Calloway—the real grandfather of rap—in there.

Miranda, on the show’s characterization of Thomas Jefferson:

The leaps they took from the music into the other departments are so incredible. I grinned so hard when I saw Andy’s staging for [What’d I Miss] at first, and they introduced Jefferson and he’s walking down the staircase and everyone’s scrubbing the floor. They got it, before I even had to say anything. Like, yep — there’s Jefferson, talking eloquently about freedom while a slave shakes his hand and he goes like this [looks disgusted]. That’s Jefferson, wrote more eloquently about freedom than anybody, but didn’t live it.

Jefferson’s outrageous style is based off of Morris Day, of The Time.

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Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Ask a questionLin-Manuel, how did you get inspiration for Jefferson's costume?Genius Answer3 contributors

Paul Tazewell designed the costumes for Hamilton, along with the help of Lin-Manuel Miranda. Lin knew from the beginning that he wanted Hamilton to wear green, the purple of Thomas Jefferson’s suit is a sharp contrast to that, hence contrasting their personalities. His suit is also more extravagant, emphasizing the wealth of Jefferson. Lastly, dye is often thought of a product slaves produce (hence the boycott of dyed clothing amongst abolitionists), and the purple dye would have needed a lot of manual labor to produce, and hence the color shows Thomas Jefferson’s close relation with slaves. Purple is also a color linked to royalty and the aristocracy, which Thomas certainly acts like he is a part of.

+35Does the track have any certifications?Genius Answer1 contributor

Yes, “What’d I Miss” was certified gold by the RIAA on October 11, 2019.

+1Who produced “What'd I Miss” by Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr., Okieriete Onaodowan & Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton?When did Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr., Okieriete Onaodowan & Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton release “What'd I Miss”?Who wrote “What'd I Miss” by Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr., Okieriete Onaodowan & Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton?Hamilton: An American Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (2015)Lin-Manuel Miranda

1. 1. Alexander Hamilton
2. 2. Aaron Burr, Sir
3. 3. My Shot
4. 4. The Story of Tonight
5. 5. The Schuyler Sisters
6. 6. Farmer Refuted
7. 7. You’ll Be Back
8. 8. Right Hand Man
9. 9. A Winter’s Ball
10. 10. Helpless
11. 11. Satisfied
12. 12. The Story of Tonight (Reprise)
13. 13. Wait For It
14. 14. Stay Alive
15. 15. Ten Duel Commandments
16. 16. Meet Me Inside
17. 17. That Would Be Enough
18. 18. Guns and Ships
19. 19. History Has Its Eyes on You
20. 20. Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)
21. 21. What Comes Next?
22. 22. Dear Theodosia
23. 23. Non-Stop
24. 24. What’d I Miss
25. 25. Cabinet Battle #1
26. 26. Take a Break
27. 27. Say No to This
28. 28. The Room Where It Happens
29. 29. Schuyler Defeated
30. 30. Cabinet Battle #2
31. 31. Washington On Your Side
32. 32. One Last Time
33. 33. I Know Him
34. 34. The Adams Administration
35. 35. We Know
36. 36. Hurricane
37. 37. The Reynolds Pamphlet
38. 38. Burn
39. 39. Blow Us All Away
40. 40. Stay Alive (Reprise)
41. 41. It’s Quiet Uptown
42. 42. The Election of 1800
43. 43. Your Obedient Servant
44. 44. Best of Wives and Best of Women
45. 45. The World Was Wide Enough
46. 46. Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story

CreditsProducersBill Sherman, Alex Lacamoire, ?uestlove, Black Thought & Lin-Manuel MirandaWriterLin-Manuel MirandaPublisherNew World Music, PECF, Warner Music Group, 5000 Broadway Music & Warner/ChappellViolinMario Gotoh & Erin BenimViolaMario GotohSynthesizerRandy CohenProgrammerScott WassermanPercussionBenny ReinerOrchestrationAlex LacamoireMixing EngineerTim LathamMastering EngineerTom CoyneKeyboardsRichard Hammond, Kurt Crowley, Benny Reiner & Alex LacamoireHarpLaura ShermanGuitarRobin MacatangayDrumsAndres ForeroDrum ProgrammerRandy CohenConductorAlex LacamoireCelloAnja WoodBassRichard HammondBanjoRobin MacatangayVocalsOriginal Broadway Cast of Hamilton, Okieriete Onaodowan, Leslie Odom Jr. & Daveed DiggsRecorded AtAvatar StudiosReleased onSeptember 25, 2015Songs That Sample What’d I MissOne Last Time by Christopher Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of HamiltonWhat’d I Miss InterpolationsWhat'd I Miss? (Instrumental) by Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton & What’d I Miss? (2014 Workshop) by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Ft. Daveed Diggs, Isaiah Johnson, Leslie Odom Jr. & Okieriete Onaodowan)Songs That Interpolate What’d I MissHAMILTON in 7 minutes by Range A Cappella & One Last Ride (Reprise) by Lin-Manuel MirandaWhat’d I Miss RemixesWas Hab Ich Verpasst? by Daniel Dodd-Ellis, Benet Monteiro, Gino Emnes, Redchild, Charles Simmons (DEU) & Original Hamburg Cast Of HamiltonWhat’d I Miss TranslationsDaveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr., Okieriete Onaodowan & Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton - What’d I miss (Traduzione italiana) by Genius Traduzioni Italiane, Original Brodway Cast of "Hamilton" - What’d I Miss (Tradução em Português) by Genius Brasil Traduções & Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton - What’d I Miss (Traducción al Español) by Genius Traducciones al EspañolView What’d I Miss samplesTagsRapUSASwingIn EnglishBroadwayMusicalsExpand CommentsAdd a commentSign Up And Drop Knowledge 🤓Genius is the ultimate source of music knowledge, created by scholars like you who share facts and insight about the songs and artists they love.Sign Up