A Few Extra Hamilton Lyrics I Have to Mention

Since I’ve already talked about all 46 songs in Hamilton and picked a favorite lyric from each one, this isn’t really a Top Five post.  But the problem is, one favorite lyric per song can be pretty limiting.  Here are five more I can’t do without.

“My Shot” – “Scratch that. / This is not a moment, it’s the movement / Where all the hungriest brothers with / Something to prove went? / Foes oppose us, we take an honest stand. / We roll like Moses, claimin’ our promised land. / And?  If we win our independence? / Is that a guarantee of freedom for our descendants? / Or will the blood we shed begin an endless / Cycle of vengeance and death with no defendants?” (Hamilton)

I love the description of early patriots as “the hungriest brothers with something to prove” – it’s so Hamilton.  I also like that Hamilton gets that revolution isn’t without blood or consequences, and it doesn’t come with guarantees.  They fight in the hope that things will get better, but they can’t know that for sure going in.  They just know that it’s worth the risk.

“Non-Stop” – “The constitution’s a mess.” / “So it needs amendments.” / “It’s full of contradictions.” / “So is independence.” (Burr & Hamilton)

Short but so sweet.  Hamilton doesn’t take a blithely contented view of freedom or democracy.  Even as he loves America, he acknowledges its problems, and he knows that the path won’t be clear or easy.  Again, it’s a mess worth fighting for.  I don’t often see writing that’s both unapologetically patriotic and resolutely clear-eyed; I just love it.

“Non-Stop” – “Burr, we studied and we fought and we killed / For the notion of a nation we now get to build.” (Hamilton)

It’s the “notion” part that gets to me.  The war isn’t just for land or laws or power:  it’s for an idea.  A seed of something that will become.  In Hamilton’s mind, they fought to envision and build, rather than simply to own or control.  What a beautiful idea.

“The Room Where It Happens” – “The art of the compromise –” / “Hold your nose and close your eyes.” / “We want our leaders to save the day –” / “But we don’t get a say in what they trade away.” / “We dream of a brand new start –” / “But we dream in the dark for the most part. / Dark as the tomb where it happens. / I gotta be in…” / “…The room where it happens.” (Burr & Ensemble)

Even though Burr is a politician, I get a sense here of the divide between people and politics.  A lot happens behind closed doors between campaign promises and congressional votes, and too often, important decisions are stymied by a coming election or vital bills become bargaining chips.  Ostensibly, Congress acts on our behalf, but it can feel like our wishes have no part in it. 

“The World Was Wide Enough” – “Death doesn’t discriminate / Between the sinners and the saints. / It takes and it takes and it takes. / History obliterates. / In every picture it paints, / It paints me and all my mistakes. / When Alexander aimed at the sky, / He may have been the first one to die, / But I’m the one who paid for it. / I survived, but I paid for it.” (Burr)

The show speaks so astutely about history, and this is maybe its most poignant remark on the subject.  What Burr does on that morning in Weehawken is more than an action.  It’s infamy itself, ensuring that we still know his name today, but also that his story is defined by one bullet.  Whoever else Burr may have been, this is the moment around which his history revolves.