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The Egg

by Sherman Edwards

on 1776 (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (1969), 1776 (1969) 1776 (1997)

b>John Adams:
It's a masterpiece, I say
They will cheer every word, every letter

Thomas Jefferson:
I wish I felt that way

Benjamin Franklin:
I believe I can put it better
Now then attend, as friend to friend
Our Declaration Committee
For us I see immortality

All:
In Philadelphia city

Benjamin Franklin:
A farmer, a lawyer, and a sage
A bit gouty in the leg
You know, it's quite bizarre
To think that here we are
Playing midwives to an egg

John Adams:
(Egg? What egg?)

Benjamin Franklin:
(America. The birth of a new nation.)

John Adams:
We're waiting for the

All:
Chirp, chirp, chirp
Of an eaglet being born
Waiting for the chirp, chirp, chirp
On this humid Monday morning in this
Congressional incubator

Benjamin Franklin:
God knows the temperature's hot enough
To hatch a stone, let alone an egg

All:
We're waiting for the
Scratch, scratch, scratch
Of that tiny little fellow
Waiting for the egg to hatch
On this humid Monday morning in this
Congressional incubator

John Adams:
God knows the temperature's hot enough
To hatch a stone

Thomas Jefferson:
But will it hatch an egg?

John Adams:
The eagle's going to crack the shell
Of the egg that England laid

All:
Yes, sir, we can
Tell, tell, tell
On this humid Monday morning in this
Congressional incubator

Benjamin Franklin:
And just as Tom here has written
Though the shell may belong to Great Britain
The eagle inside belongs to us

Adams and Franklin:
And just as Tom here has written

All:
We say "To hell with Great Britain"
The eagle inside belongs to us!