Alexander Hamilton was George Washington’s right hand man , a status that advanced him and his causes, much to the chagrin of his political enemies. Once Washington voluntarily stepped down from office, Hamilton’s fortunes took a turn for the worse.
In Hamilton, that fateful turn of events is captured in the moving ‘One Last Time,’ a track that lets Washington portrayer (and my wife’s Broadway crush) Christopher Jackson shine.
I mentioned last week that Lin-Manuel Miranda jokingly regrets giving two of the best songs he’s ever written to Leslie Odom Jr.’s Aaron Burr. Here’s the second one.
In ‘The Room Where It Happens,’ Burr watches from the sidelines while Hamilton, Jefferson and Madison make a deal behind closed doors. Known as the “Dinner Table Bargain,” the agreement moved the nation’s capital to Virginia in exchange for the federal government assuming state debts.
Act 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.
I’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.
Here’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.
Meet Me In Montauk 