Unless you have lived under a rock you are aware of the accumulating success of the musical" Hamilton." A vision of Lin-Manuel Miranda, American actor, composer, rapper and writer, that started in 2007 with a the bibliography of Alexander Hamilton, the President of the United States, and some killer raps. Today, I want to share with you six of the forty-six songs that truly leave you with a moral message that will make you want to cry or go fight a revolution.
1. Burn
This song is one of the last sang in the second act. It is Eliza singing after she has read about the letters Hamilton and Maria Reynolds shared in their three-year affair. This breaks her heart. She decided to burn the one thing that Alexander holds dear, his words. A line from the song is, "You and your words, obsessed with your legacy…Your sentences border on senseless...And you are paranoid in every paragraph...How they perceive you." This song, although a bit of a sad one, is one that every women can sing. The story of a boy that hurt your heart that you decide that getting even isn't the answer, but to get rid of every part of him in your life.
2. My Shot
In the beginning of act one, we hear about Alexander Hamilton dealing with the death of his mother. After all of the horrid nonsense of his life, finally, he gets a shot at leaving a legacy that would go down in our history books. A line from this song is, "Don’t be shocked when your hist’ry book mentions me... I will lay down my life if it sets us free...Eventually, you’ll see my ascendancy." This is a song that gives the people who hear it the power to know that no matter where you come from, take your shot and run with it!
3. Hurricane
Have you every been in a moment when shit hits the fan? Where everything seems to be crashing around you? We all have. But have you felt the moment after? When you realize you are stronger than the obstacles in front of you? That moment is this song. Alexander is finally facing the world and saying "push me down, but I am not out." A line from this song is, "I wrote my way out of hell...I wrote my way to revolution...I was louder than the crack in the bell...I wrote financial systems into existence...And when my prayers to God were met with indifference...I picked up a pen, I wrote my own deliverance." For a moment in Alexander's life, he is taking pride in his work and having the realization that in this moment, he has survived two hurricanes: a real hurricane in his home island, and this metaphoric hurricane in his mind.
4. Satisfied
Have you ever hear the expression "blood is thicker than water?" Well this song is the true meaning of that. Angelica, Eliza's sister, is the first to see Alexander at the Winter Ball, which is like 18th century "dibs." It is love at first sight, but then she turns and sees her sister, feeling helpless at his sight. A line from this song is, "But when I fantasize at night it’s Alexander’s eyes...As I romanticize what might have been...If I hadn’t sized him up so quickly...At least my dear Eliza’s his wife...At least I keep his eyes in my life." Angelica gives up the man she loves, so the sister she loves more, can be happy. She is, although, thankful for the fact that Eliza is her sister so maybe, just maybe, she still had a chance at Alexander.
5. It's Quiet Uptown
A parents worst nightmare, losing a child. But this song isn't just about that. This song sheds light on remembering those who go through the hard times with you, the others that suffer. A line from this song is, " I know I don’t deserve you, Eliza...But hear me out. That would be enough...If I could spare his life...If I could trade his life for mine...He’d be standing here right now...And you would smile, and that would be enough." Alexander tells Eliza that if he would give up his life just to see her smile again. That that would be enough for him. A terribly sad song with a moving message.
6. Wait For It
This song is different than many others in the show. A line from this song is, "Love doesn't discriminate...Between the sinners and the saints...It takes and it takes and it takes...And we keep loving anyway...Then I'm willing to wait for it...I'm willing to wait for it." He speaks of loving a women he can't have. But that isn't why the song is special, it tells the story that sinners and saints are no different when it comes to life, love, and death. In the end, we are all just looking for that special someone and that legacy to be remembered by, who cares if you are a sinner or a saint?
There are many songs I left off here, over forty, but that fact is this is a highlight of what this show is.
From sassy kings,
Thomas Jefferson spitting straight fire,
and Alexander busting a rhyme...
You will see or hear this show and know, you have been changed.
Also there is...
So how could you go wrong?
