Remove ads

Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'Hamilton'

NonSequtur

NonSequtur

a body
There's basically no place for discussion of live performance stuff or non-visual recorded media, so this is probably the best spot for this thread.



So, Hamilton. As in, Alexander Hamilton. Founding Father, man on the United States' 10 dollar bill, First Secretary of the Treasury, most famous for getting killed in a duel with the vice-president in 1804.

Well, until this past February, when the eponymous musical Hamilton debuted at the Public Theatre in New York to critical acclaim, sold-out theatres and attendances from A-list celebrities and the First Family. With a soundtrack that doubles as a script heavily influenced by hip-hop and r&b and a multi-racial cast portraying America's most famous collection of dead white men, Hamilton is on track to sweep a number of award ceremonies and bring one of the less famous Founding Fathers back into the popular consciousness.

Wait, what?

Let's rewind. Hamilton started when Lin-Manuel Miranda, still involved in his Tony Award winning musical In The Heights, picked up Rob Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton on a whim. On reading, he decided that Hamilton - immigrant, orphan, word-drunk prodigy - very much embodied hip-hop. So he decided to make a concept album about the life of Alexander Hamilton.

Yes, yes, President Obama laughed too.

Anyway, after enlisting the help of Rob Chernow to fact-check, The Hamilton Mixtapes evolved from an album into a musical focused on Hamilton's meteoric career and rocky personal life, narrated by his counterpart and eventual killer, Aaron Burr. Portraying the First Secretary of the Treasury as a man who quite literally wrote himself into history and then wrote himself back out with little more than a keen mind, a talent with words and a destructive, prideful drive, Hamilton's thematic focus is legacies - the people who chase them, the people who pass them down, and the people caught in their wake.

Most people won't see it anytime soon; it's sold out until July, and booked solidly for quite a ways after. But for those not in the United States, or who are willing to spend some money on a Broadway cast album, you can get the majority of the auditory experience without having to trade away a kidney for tickets.

And you really should. Clear the next two and a half hours and put on your headphones. Link to the Youtube playlist here, and lyrics here.

tl;dr: I've listened to this album three times and bawled my eyes out quite a few times more.
 
I admit back when I saw a rolling wall of critics whose judgement had never failed me before speak Hamilton's praises, I was considerably skeptical. Nothing, I thought, could live up to such expectations.

I was wrong.
 
Ha, I was a bit surprised that this wasn't a thread yet. I had wanted to post about Hamilton earlier, but I guess I just had to wait for it. ^_^

Edit: For those who have already listened to the album at least once, I highly recommend looking up the album's genius.com annotations for specific songs you enjoyed.
 
Last edited:
I'd also point people to the Genius annotations.

I like how Aaron Burr isn't really demonized. He also gets two of the best songs in the musical - 'Wait for It' and 'The Room Where It Happens'.

Though... I'd have a hard time picking a single best song. Maybe 'Satisfied'?
***
On another note:
 
Last edited:
I keep telling people I want the Hamilton cast album for Christmas and they keep looking at me like I'm crazy.

YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND MOM

EDIT - Like, ferreal: actual Conversation with my girlfriend:

"So do you want anything for Christmas from Hawaii?"

"... the Hamilton cast album?"

I'll probably get a shirt :|
 
Last edited:
Some of you might have been wondering who "Seabury" in Farmer Refuted was historically. The fan annotations on Genius.com cover the subject but not in particular depth. This is a good article to look at.

Article:
[...] The reverend refused to stand silent in the face of this open rebellion or rule by Committee which he likened to mob and bully tactics. Seabury took to his pen and dashed off a very nice piece of protest called Free Thoughts on the Proceedings of the Continental Congress. He signed the piece "A. W. Farmer" and sent the pamphlet to New York's loyalist printer, James Rivington, for publication in November of 1774. Seabury addressed his essay to "You the Farmers of the Province of New York" and claimed to be one himself. He argued directly and effectively against the comprehensive commercial opposition passed by the delegates. Seabury predicted economic ruin from blockading ports, and depressed flaxseed and land prices.

Within a month, Rivington's Gazetteer proudly announced an upcoming response to Seabury's Free Thoughts. A young student at King's College named Alexander Hamilton submitted his well-written Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress as the promised response. Hamilton tried to dismiss Seabury but his pamphlet had little impact on the people of Westchester, who remained loyal to both church and Crown.

Rev. Seabury's second pamphlet was already written when Hamilton's Vindication came out. This time Seabury addressed it "To the Merchants of New York" using economic arguments that blamed New England for the trouble with England. At the end, A. W. Farmer acknowledged Hamilton's pamphlet and challenged him to continue a debate in the press, offering to wait 10 days before publishing his next pamphlet. Baiting Hamilton further, Seabury supposed the time more than enough "for so very accomplished a writer to ridicule all the wit contained" in the letters of A. W. Farmer.

Hamilton, 18 years old at the time, declined the invitation to debate further, but did post a short public rebuttal claiming "no necessity to communicate" further since he felt the loyalists were "too much blinded to perceive the force of just argumentation."

Seabury went right for the literary jugular. His View of the Controversy Between Great-Britain and her Colonies was directed right at Hamilton and his Vindication. Still operating as A. W. Farmer, the reverend claimed the right of all Englishmen to openly enjoy his freedom of thought and expression. He "freely own[ed]" to having "published the Free Thoughts with a design to "diminish the influence" of Congress and working to prevent the Association. Seabury mocked Hamilton for having spoken of "the impotence" of his attempts to sway the people of New York by pointing out how his pamphlets "have been rapidly purchased, and eagerly read; notwithstanding the general indignation of which you speak." A. W. Farmer pointed out that Loyalism was winning in the countryside and he sees "the influence of Congress daily diminishing."

[...]

While Lin Manuel takes dramatic license and writes the clash as another verbal victory for the rising hero, the real debate was more of an even match. It was Hamilton who throws in the towel rather than proceed. However the image of an exasperated Hamilton is certainly true enough to events.
 
:D



I think we can all agree that this is one of the better parody's of Hamilton (WHICH NEEDS TO BE ON A DVD NOW, DAMN IT!)
 


because this is probably the closest most of us are ever going to get to seeing this

Dvd when?
 
I listened to it on YouTube a few weeks ago... Then I listened twice more... Then I bought the album and listened *checks itunes* around thirty more times, give or take.

As much as I love Satisfied I think it is a second or third favorite. Absolute favorite is Non-Stop. That part at the end where everyone is singing their own song and it harmonizes together, mmmmm. That is my favorite thing, (and the reason I liked Into The Woods so much)

If only I were rich enough to afford taking a trip out to see Hamilton.
 
If you guys need something to cheer yourselves up from the travesty that was BvS, have one of the better Alexander Hamilton parodies:

 
FriedIce said:
If you guys need something to cheer yourselves up from the travesty that was BvS, have one of the better Alexander Hamilton parodies:
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Darn, the metrical feet don't feel exactly right. Maybe I'm just too used to the original. But I'll take whatever more of Hamilton I can get. :)

Tangent: Ham4Ham with Lea Salonga - best part is the beginning, where she sings a short song Lin Manual Miranda wrote for a girl he was trying to date in college. Utterly adorkable.

 
My roommate just won't shut up about it. He keeps singing it, plays it (thankfully usually on iphone w/headphones), talks about it all the time... It's a good show, to be sure. I'm just suffering from oversaturation.
 
HAMILTON! GOD! QUITE PROBABLY I WILL NEVER SEE IT BECAUSE I LIVE LITERALLY HALFWAY AROUND THE GLOBE FROM THE U.S.! IT IS SO GOOD THOUGH AND I JUST FOUND IT AND SPENT 3 DAYS LISTENING TO THE CAST RECORDING WHILE DOING PAPERS. I AM IN LOVE WITH IT. I CAN'T TURN OFF THE CAPS LOCK THAT'S HOW MUCH I LOVE IT.
 
Limstar said:
HAMILTON! GOD! QUITE PROBABLY I WILL NEVER SEE IT BECAUSE I LIVE LITERALLY HALFWAY AROUND THE GLOBE FROM THE U.S.! IT IS SO GOOD THOUGH AND I JUST FOUND IT AND SPENT 3 DAYS LISTENING TO THE CAST RECORDING WHILE DOING PAPERS. I AM IN LOVE WITH IT. I CAN'T TURN OFF THE CAPS LOCK THAT'S HOW MUCH I LOVE IT.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
So what you're saying is that you listened to it Non Stop?
 
Last edited:
I feel like it's entirely possible everyone has seen this, but since I only just stumbled upon it I found it impossible not to share the john adams rap that was cut from the musical.

Spoilers: it is pure gold.

 
FixerUpper said:
I feel like it's entirely possible everyone has seen this, but since I only just stumbled upon it I found it impossible not to share the john adams rap that was cut from the musical.

Spoilers: it is pure gold.

Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

This is one of my favorite clips. :)

As pointed out in the comments, fun details:
1) The 'Sit down, John' phrase is a nod to a song in the musical '1776'.
2) Daveed's face during "Say hi to the Jeffersons!"
3) Phillipa trying to bleep one of the curse words.
4) Renee getting utterly hyped at the end, and Lin cracking up when he sees her jumping around in excitement. And Daveed can't take it either, and plays musical chairs by himself at the same time.
 
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top