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Making History With Hamilton

I will never be satisfied.

Jade DeArmond
Nov 14, 2016
Henderson State University
16
Making History With Hamilton
NPRMusic

"Pardon me, have you heard the news, sir?"

"That depends, what of?"

"Oh sure, sir, it's Alexander Hamilton, he's at your service, sir."

Now that I've nerded out, have you heard about Hamilton? I'm a little late hopping on the bandwagon, but I assure you I've made up for lost time. Let me explain. Hamilton is a musical about Alexander Hamilton written, composed, and performed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. You may think, a historical musical? How boring. And you'd be wrong.

Miranda somehow weaves history and hip hop into an absolutely amazing musical. It tells the unfiltered story of Hamilton's life from birth to death. It's magnificently honest. The first line of the musical calls Alexander a "bastard, orphan, son of a whore." All the cast members have amazing voices; Angelica is my personal favorite. I can only imagine what it would be like to see it live in person.

Hamilton instilled in me a never-before-seen love of history. I so despise history classes, but currently, I could tell you every detail of Alexander Hamilton's life, and many parts of the lives of the characters that surround him. We see such stars as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Aaron Burr, James Madison, and King George the third. Of course, some artistic license is taken, but the actual facts are surprisingly accurate. It's said that Miranda got the idea for the show after reading an autobiography on Hamilton's life. I'm not sure who reads an autobiography and thinks, "hey, this could be a great musical!" But, I'm sure glad he did.

Who else could turn cabinet minutes into rap battles? My favorite songs are, "Burn" and "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story." "Burn" is about Hamilton's wife, Eliza, after she finds out that he's cheated on her. The most heartbreaking phrase in the whole of 46 songs is in this one: "I'm rereading the letters you wrote me. I'm searching and scanning for answers in every line, for some kind of sign of when you were mine." MY HEART. The other song is about having no control over how people remember you when you're gone. So, despite being hilariously entertaining, Hamilton plucks at your heartstrings and leaves you with lessons you never thought you'd learn.

If you haven't listened to this work of art, you should. And if you have, wanna sing a duet sometime?

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