Category Archives: song of the day

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Song of the Day #2,856: ‘Cabinet Battle #1’ – Hamilton cast

hamiltonAct Two of Hamilton introduces Thomas Jefferson, who (aside from Aaron Burr) serves as Hamilton’s principal antagonist. Their contentious debates are handled through a pair of cabinet battles performed in the style of rap battles.

These cabinet battles capture the essence of what makes Hamilton so special. The subject matter is important American history but the narrative vehicle is as modern as it gets. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s central premise is that the Founding Fathers were the original gangsters and telling their story in that style will make it accessible to modern audiences.

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Song of the Day #2,855: ‘A Thousand Years’ – Sting

sting_brand_new_dayI’ve posted only five Sting songs over the years, and two of those were ‘Englishman in New York.’ As I posted in my first ‘Englishman in New York’ Song of the Day entry, the guy just generally bugs me. He’s a major talent, no doubt, but I can’t spent a lot of time listening to him.

The post linked above led to a lively discussion about artists who rub you the wrong way, including my sister’s confession that she hates my beloved Fiona Apple. Good reading.

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Song of the Day #2,854: ‘I Won’t Be Your Yoko Ono’ – Dar Williams

greenworldHere’s a great track from Dar Williams’ 2000 album, The Green World. Yoko Ono has taken a lot of shit over the years for breaking up The Beatles, the sort of female-shaming that wouldn’t fly so easily these days.

Williams is a great feminist songwriter (see ‘When I Was a Boy,’ one of my very favorite songs) and she takes up for Yoko here quite nicely.

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Song of the Day #2,853: ‘Non-Stop’ – Hamilton cast

hamiltonI started the week with Hamilton‘s opening song, so it’s only fitting that I close with the final song of Act One. Following a successful stint commanding a battalion at the battle of Yorktown (depicted in another first act highlight), Hamilton starts a law practice and eventually joins Washington’s cabinet.

This track brilliantly incorporates elements of almost every Act One song, pulling it all together in a rousing finish that will no doubt send my family into fits of ecstatic glee prior to intermission.

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Song of the Day #2,852: ‘Wait For It’ – Leslie Odom Jr. & Hamilton cast

hamiltonAlexander Hamilton is certainly the central character of Hamilton, but you could argue that the lead role belongs to Aaron Burr. Burr serves as the narrator and has more time onstage than Hamilton. He also gets some of the best songs — Lin-Manuel Miranda jokingly bemoaned the fact that he gave two of the best songs he’s ever written to a character somebody else gets to play.

That somebody else is the fabulous Leslie Odom Jr., and today’s SOTD, ‘Wait For It,’ is one of those two songs (the other will show up next week).

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