Franklin is a song from Don't Give Up on Doing Good. It is sung by Jimmy and Jerry Gourd and Bob the Tomato.
Lyrics[]
Jimmy: We know you've heard a lot about your favorite Founding Fathers...
Jerry: So why should we describe another?
Jimmy: Tell me why we bother!
Jerry: There's a man we should remember, maybe even thank him!
Jimmy and Jerry: Put your hands together for Benjamin Franklin!
Bob: *ahem* I was a diplomat, philosopher, a writer, politician,
a printer and a scientist! The others, they were wishin'
that they could do as much as me or have as big a brain!
Don't believe me? Listen up, I'm gonna explain!
Jimmy and Jerry: Don't believe him? Listen up, he's gonna explain!
Bob: I studied ocean currents and the growth of population!
I started postal service for our brand new nation!
The U of Pennsylvania, that was me!
A new kind of spectacles you can see!
I invented on the holidays, on Labor Day and Hanukkah!
I even made an instrument, the glass harmonica!
Jimmy and Jerry: He even made an instrument, the glass harmonica!
Bob: I'm printin' up an almanac that everyone is readin'!
I'm helpin' with a revolution, now we are succeedin'!
I'm working on the constitution, just what we are needin'!
I'm also foreign minister to France and Sweden!
Jimmy and Jerry: He's also foreign minister to France and Sweden!
Bob: While Washington was nappin' in his apple grove,
I was workin' in the workshop on the Franklin Stove!
Jimmy and Jerry: He was workin' in the workshop on the Franklin Stove!
He was workin' in the workshop on the Franklin Stove!
Archibald: Ah, yes, Benjamin, we're looking for scrap metal for recycling. Are you throwing that away?
Bob: I'm not throwing away my potbelly stove!
Jimmy and Jerry: He's not throwing away his potbelly stove!
Bob: You can go back to your nappin' in your apple grove!
Jimmy and Jerry: But he's not throwing away his potbelly stove!
Jerry: Word!
Archibald: Alright! Sheesh! Keep it!
Bob: When I'm rollin' with my homies at a house party,
I make a splash with my cash so everyone can see
who's the dude on the hundred-dollar bill, it's me!
Jimmy and Jerry: Day by day, he kept inventing in a rainstorm unrelenting with a kite string and a key,
is there electricity in a bolt of lightning? Let's see!
Bob: Wait, what's happening now?
Jimmy: This is it, Bob! The big finish!
Jerry: Viral!
Bob: Are you sure this is a good idea?
Jimmy and Jerry: He's not throwing away his-
Fun Facts[]
- In the album version, Bob sings along with Jimmy and Jerry during the last part of the song's rapping portion.
- The song is loosely inspired by Hamilton and has references.
- The part "I'm not throwing away my potbelly stove/He's not throwing away his stove" is a reference to the song, My Shot. Speificlly the lyric, "I'm not throwing away my shot."