There are moments that the words don’t reach.
There is suffering too terrible to name.
You hold your child as tight as you can and push away the unimaginable
Yes, I’m officially in my Hamilton phase.
And like many of my weird hyperfixations, I do not have anyone to talk to about how Hamilton is probably one of the most beautifully written pieces of literature to exist. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating - but can you blame me? I’m writing this purely as an appreciation for the most amazing lyrics that reside in this musical.
I am generally not a musical person - Hamilton is the only exception. And to be frank, I partially thought musicals were annoying... but that was before my ears were blessed with the masterpiece that is Hamilton.
If you enjoy poetry - watch Hamilton.
If you want to be at least moderately educated on the history of America’s founding - watch Hamilton.
If you enjoy music - watch Hamilton.
If you enjoyed Moana, The Lion King, Encanto (because Lin made those too, if you didn’t know) - watch Hamilton.
In conclusion - just watch it, because I promise you there is something in it for everyone. (Not this sounding like an elaborate advertisement.)
Coming back to the lyrics, which I am still in awe of after hearing them:
“What is a legacy? Legacy... it’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.”
UHMMM DO I NEED TO SAY MORE?? THIS IS PEAK LITERATURE.
"Put a pencil to his temple, connected it to his brain, and he wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain." ???
And mind you, the whole musical is like this.
Lin doesn’t just manage to drop the most jaw-dropping lyrics - he also makes them rhyme so beautifully. Listen to this:
"How does a bastard, orphan, immigrant, decorated war vet, Unite the colonies through more debt, Fight the other founding fathers till he has to forfeit, Have it all, lose it all you ready for more yet? Treasury Secretary, Washington’s the president, Every American experiment sets a precedent. Not so fast someone came along to resist him, Pissed him off till we had a two-party system."
I may have to stop myself here because I might just end up typing the whole thing - but you get my point.
Okay just one more - bear with me:
"I am the one thing in life I can control."
Like... tell me this isn’t true??
Every second, every word is just so brilliant. Maybe the reason why I love Hamilton so much is because I’m that type of person who finds beauty in the way things are worded and it did not disappoint at all. The chokehold this has on me right now is unspeakable. (I’m definitely not listening to the soundtrack as I’m writing this.)
And don't even get me started on the ingenious hidden meanings that are present throughout the musical like how whenever Phillip counted he only reached till seven because he was shot on the 8th count and how in Who Lives Who Dies Who Tells Your Story the piano notes are the reversed ones from Burn because SHE REWROTE THE NARRATIVE?! (I know this might not make sense for people who have not watched it yet)
The diction, the flow, the storytelling, the rhyme scheme - it’s just perfect. I don’t think I’ve ever loved something this much before.
The hard part about all of this is convincing your friends to give it a chance because:
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the idea of a musical may sound boring, and
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a musical about history?? Oh, if I didn’t know how amazing it is, I would probably think the same too.
These days I’ve been reciting the whole musical top to bottom whenever I have a good two and a half hours to myself with nothing to do. Once you start, you just can’t stop. I used to think people on TikTok were exaggerating how good this was - and now that I’ve watched it, I totally understand.
I hope reading this gives you some sort of motivation to give it a chance - you won’t regret it.