 Genius Meanings
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)
|
|
This song captures the events that occurred during the Battle of Yorktown, the last major battle of the Revolutionary War. These events are covered in Chernow’s biography on pages
|
|
Christopher Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – One Last Time
|
|
This song tells the story of Hamilton writing George Washington’s “Farewell Address,” his famous last statement of political thoughts published upon his decision to step down from
|
|
Leslie Odom, Jr. & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – Wait For It
|
|
This soliloquy is sung by Aaron Burr midway through the first act of the show.
The beat on the first half of the song closely resembles dancehall reggae; you can compare the
|
|
Leslie Odom, Jr., Daveed Diggs, Christopher Jackson & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – Guns and Ships
|
|
“Guns and Ships” holds the honor of being the fastest song in the fastest-paced musical theater production of all time (the whole show fits 20,000 words into 2.5 hours). According
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton & Renée Elise Goldsberry – Satisfied
|
|
“Satisfied” — whose lines and title draw inspiration from an actual letter Angelica wrote to Hamilton — reinforces one of the most important themes of Hamilton, that our
|
|
Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – Your Obedient Servant
|
|
The title and refrain of this song are a reference to the real-life correspondence between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton that led to their famous duel. Each letter was signed:
|
|
Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – A Winter's Ball
|
|
“A Winter’s Ball” serves as a brief transition between Hamilton participating in the New York Campaign in “Right Hand Man,” and meeting his future wife Eliza Schuyler in “Helpless
|
|
Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom, Jr., Okieriete Onaodowan & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – What'd I Miss
|
|
Daveed Diggs’s Lafayette leaves for France in Act I, and he returns to the stage in Act II as Thomas Jefferson, who was absent for large swaths of the Revolution and the early
|
|
Anthony Ramos, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jon Rua, Leslie Odom, Jr. & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – Ten Duel Commandments
|
|
Hamilton, Laurens, Burr, and Lee recite a versified version of the code duello while preparing for a duel.
Title and style pays homage to “Ten Crack Commandments” by The Notorious
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – Stay Alive
|
|
Historically, this song is out of place in the timeline given by the show. It jumps back almost three years from Hamilton’s wedding (1780) to the Continental Army’s winter at
|
|
Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Christopher Jackson, Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" & Renée Elise Goldsberry – Non-Stop
|
|
The Act I finale covers Hamilton’s life from the end of the war to his appointment as Secretary of the Treasury. Burr watches in amazement as Hamilton becomes a leading lawyer
|
|
Jasmine Cephas-Jones, Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sydney James Harcourt & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – Say No to This
|
|
Hamilton begins his disastrous affair with mega-vamp Maria Reynolds. For the first major sex scandal in the United States' political history, Lin-Manuel Miranda gives us a 90s slow
|
|
Christopher Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – History Has Its Eyes on You
|
|
In this song, Washington tells Hamilton what the show he’s starring in is all about. During this scene, Washington hands Hamilton a sword, a symbol of his promotion to his command
|
|
|
Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – The Election of 1800
|
|
The election of 1800 was bitter and contentious:
The period leading up to the election of 1800 became a witches' brew of personalities, innuendo, ideology, and rumor. Through
|
|
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anthony Ramos, Phillipa Soo & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – Stay Alive (Reprise)
|
|
“Stay Alive (Reprise)” covers the time between the moment Philip is shot in his duel and the moment he dies. It gives a transition between “Blow Us All Away” which examines Philip’
|
|
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom, Jr., Anthony Ramos, Christopher Jackson & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – Meet Me Inside
|
|
If you needed reminding that Hamilton was barely out of his teens for the majority of the Revolution, here we have a very adolescent and daddy-issues-laden musical number.
|
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – The Reynolds Pamphlet
|
|
“The Reynolds Pamphlet” was a 95-page document written by Alexander Hamilton in response to allegations of corruption. He refuted these allegations, but in doing so, he publicly
|
|
Jonathan Groff & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – You'll Be Back
|
|
This song, framed as a letter from King George to the colonists, is a kind of extended double entendre. It addresses the grievances of the colonists and asserts George’s authority
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story
|
|
The cast and company return to usher in Eliza, who takes over for Burr and narrates the Afterword of our story. The play ends by asking the audience directly, “Who tells your story
|
|
|
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anthony Ramos, Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Leslie Odom, Jr. & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – My Shot
|
|
After Alexander Hamilton moves to New York, he searches for a thing to be a part of. He soon joins the movement for United States independence where he meets some of the characters
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – Alexander Hamilton (Instrumental)
|
|
[Insrumental]
|
|
Phillipa Soo, Anthony Ramos, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Renée Elise Goldsberry – Take a Break
|
|
Philip reveals he’s got revolutionary potential, while Alexander, Angelica, and Eliza explore the possibility of spending some time together—their individual desires and
|
|
Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – The Room Where It Happens
|
|
Here, Burr dramatically dishes on and reacts to the news of the “Dinner Table Bargain,” also known as the Compromise of 1790. 100% relatedly, this song has a terribly unsurprising
|
|
Phillipa Soo, Jasmine Cephas-Jones, Leslie Odom, Jr., Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" & Renée Elise Goldsberry – The Schuyler Sisters
|
|
Referred to as the Destiny’s Child number of the musical, “The Schuyler Sisters” explosively introduces two of Hamilton’s major female players, Angelica and Eliza Schuyler… as well
|
|
Phillipa Soo & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – Helpless
|
|
Continuing on in the same vein as “The Schuyler Sisters,” Eliza here transforms into a full-fledged Beyoncé—frequently mimicking the superstar’s characteristic ways of singing
|
|
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anthony Ramos, Okieriete Onaodowan, Daveed Diggs & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – The Story of Tonight
|
|
A leitmotif that repeats throughout the first act to unite Hamilton and his Revolutionary friends.
Thematically, this song is reminiscent of those other Revolutionary bros, Les
|
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – Non-Stop (Instrumental)
|
|
[Instrumental]
|
|
Thayne Jasperson, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – Farmer Refuted
|
|
Alexander Hamilton confronts a loyalist publicly advocating against the American Revolution.
The scene is inspired by a series of anonymous letters to newspapers in New England
|
|
|
Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom, Jr., Okieriete Onaodowan & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – Washington On Your Side
|
|
This song immediately follows Jefferson’s diss at the end of “Cabinet Battle #2.” It starts with Burr methodically talking almost as if he’s chanting, egging on Jefferson regarding
|
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – Aaron Burr, Sir (Instrumental)
|
|
[Instrumental]
|
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – The Adams Administration
|
|
After Washington retires, Hamilton’s political fortunes start to fade. He gets into a fight with President John Adams, despite being in the same political party, and that’s
|
|
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr. & Okieriete Onaodowan – We Know
|
|
The ominous music underlying “We Know” fittingly calls back James Reynolds' part in “Say No To This,” which gives us a good hint that something’s about to go down. Jefferson
|
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – Cabinet Battle #1 (Instrumental)
|
|
[Instrumental]
|
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – Say No To This (Instrumental)
|
|
[Instrumental]
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – The Adams Administration - Cut Rap
|
|
[ALEXANDER HAMILTON] / An open letter to the fat / Arrogant / Anti-charismatic national embarrassment / Known as President John Adams / [ENSABLE VOICE] / Shit / [ALEXANDER HAMILTON
|
|
Anthony Ramos, Ariana DeBose, Sasha Hutchings, Ephraim Sykes, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – Blow Us All Away
|
|
Philip, just fully grown, confronts George Eacker, a man who publicly maligned his father. The dispute escalates into a duel, and before anyone knows it, Philip has been mortally
|
|
Leslie Odom, Jr., Anthony Ramos, Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Christopher Jackson & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – Alexander Hamilton
|
|
Hamilton does not have an overture. There are eleven notes of orchestral introduction in Hamilton: seven rhythmic orchestral notes in the rhythmic motif of “not throwing away my
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton (Ft. Renée Elise Goldsberry) – Congratulations
|
|
HAMILTON: / Angelica... / ANGELICA: / Alexander... / Congratulations; / You've invented a new kind of stupid / A damage you can never undo / Kind of stupid / An open all the cages
|
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – The Room Where It Happens (Instrumental)
|
|
[Instrumental]
|
|
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" & Renée Elise Goldsberry – It's Quiet Uptown
|
|
The Hamiltons grieve Philip’s death and slowly begin to put their lives back together in this moving treatise on grief, forgiveness, and by extension, humanity’s terrible and
|
|
Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – The World Was Wide Enough
|
|
In “The World Was Wide Enough,” Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr meet for the duel set up in “Your Obedient Servant” and Burr kills Hamilton.
The title and final line come from
|
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – Burn (Instrumental)
|
|
[Instrumental]
|
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) Samples
|
|
See all of “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)” by Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton’s samples, covers, remixes, interpolations and live versions
|
|
Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of "Hamilton" – Hurricane
|
|
Hamilton’s reflection on his tenuous situation derails him, and causes him to publish an admission to adultery.
This song has some of the most beautiful staging and lighting in
|
|
|
Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton – That Would Be Enough (Instrumental)
|
|
[Instrumental]
|
|
Christopher Jackson, Daveed Diggs, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Okieriete Onaodowan – Cabinet Battle #2
|
|
This song is a sequel to “Cabinet Battle #1,” deepening the battle lines between Hamilton’s Federalists and Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans. In this case, Hamilton supports
|
