“Burn” – Hamilton

Warning: I got wordy as heck in this post. You’ve been warned!

Lately, I have been reconnecting with two of my loves: musical theater and artwork. Naturally, the marriage of the two is art based on my favorite moments from theater! Today’s artwork, which took somewhere in the neighborhood of three hours from start to finish, depicts a pivotal moment for Elizabeth Schuyler-Hamilton of Hamilton fame, “Burn.” From the moment I first heard it, I fell in love with the track for its haunting melody and how amazingly fun it is to sing when I’m stressed out.

Although “Burn” is the moment I chose to depict, I really love listening to the three song progression that ends with it–“Hurricane” as sung by Alexander Hamilton, “The Reynolds Pamphlet” by the full company, and “Burn” by Eliza. While looking for a YouTube mix, I discovered one that includes a song ultimately cut from the Broadway version, Angelica Schuyler’s “Congratulations.” (Cue me proceeding to listen to that one song over and over again.) One of my favorite ways to interact with my favorite media is to (over)think about the themes, their meaning, and how this relates to the real world. Don’t mind me as I ramble…

In “Hurricane,” we see Hamilton haunted by the idea that his political enemies will break the news about his affair with Maria Reynolds and the subsequent extortion to keep her and her husband’s silence about it. Hamilton reasons that the best way to handle this is to take matters into his own hands:

I wrote my way out of hell
I wrote my way to revolution
I was louder than the crack in the bell
I wrote Eliza love letters until she fell
I wrote about The Constitution and defended it well
And in the face of ignorance and resistance
I wrote financial systems into existence
And when my prayers to God were met with indifference
I picked up a pen, I wrote my own deliverance

“Hurricane,” Hamilton Soundtrack

In this song, Hamilton muses about his hardships and feels firmly about what he needs to do. It’s a theme we’re all familiar with, right? We’re faced with a tough situation, and we do what you think is best in that moment. Sometimes, we luck into saying or doing the right thing. Frequently, though, we either misjudge the situation entirely, or we’re forced to pick the lesser of two evils. Then, we have to face the consequences of our actions…

The Reynolds Pamphlet is widely distributed by Hamilton as a means to control the narrative before his enemies can. By doing so, he completely ruins his chances at the U.S. Presidency, as Thomas Jefferson (echoed by Aaron Burr and James Madison) cheerfully taunts again and again. It’s a deliberate analogy to the way modern society responds to controversy nowadays. Any time a public figure screws up, society eats up their misery. We use this as justification to boast how we always knew this person was like that, or we project our own unhappiness onto them in an attempt to make ourselves feel better. I can only imagine if Lin-Manuel Miranda had written Hamilton in 2019 how many references to cancel culture there would be or how many memes would be circulating. The court of public opinion is a miserable place to find oneself, but the general public will move on eventually. But, with loved ones…

You took a rumor a few, maybe two, people knew and refuted it 
By sharing an affair of which no one has accused you
I begged you to take a break, you refused to
So scared of what your enemies might do to you
You’re the only enemy you ever seem to lose to
You know why Jefferson can do what he wants?
He doesn’t dignify schoolyard taunts with a response!

“Congratulations,” from the Hamilton workshop. Also check out Dessa’s version from the Hamilton Mixtape!

Now, admittedly, I have a little trouble getting into Hamilton’s head space for “Hurricane.” Hamilton’s constant obsession with proving himself to the world is not a mindset I share. Something, something, Mars and Venus, probably. But, when we get into Angelica and Eliza’s songs, I can very much relate and understand both of their mental states.

“Congratulations, you have invented a new kind of stupid.” Right out of the gate, Angelica is the protective big sister. And, damn, the lyrics are savage. It is awful being the one who is hurting, but I think in many ways it’s so much worse having to watch someone you love go through that hurt. This song fulfills the fantasy of all the things you wish you could say to someone who broke their heart. Of all the ways you want to tell them how they royally screwed up; how badly they treated such an amazing person. In Hamilton’s case, this is a very black and white scenario; you would be hard pressed to find someone who would disagree. Reality, though, exists in shades of gray, and we’re typically best to stay out of it. It’s best to let that person process and heal so they can come out of it stronger.

…even if we really, really want to kick that person in the head.

That, of course, is not even going into if you had some type of relationship with the person who wronged your loved one, like Angelica did. That’s another topic for another day. But, speaking of the heartbroken…

You and your words flooded my senses
Your sentences left me defenseless
You built me palaces out of paragraphs
You built cathedrals
I’m re-reading the letters you wrote me
I’m searching and scanning for answers in every line
For some kind of sign
And when you were mine
The world seemed to burn

“Burn,” Hamilton soundtrack

The low piano notes transitioning “Hurricane” to “Reynolds Pamphlet” lets you know immediately that Hamilton screwed up, but the harp chords following the lyrics “his poor wife” let you know just how badly he did. Here, I want to bring up “First Burn,” which five of the women who played Eliza recorded. This version is much, much more satisfying for the recently heartbroken looking for a musical outlet for their emotions but is out of character for Eliza she’s portrayed in the show. To me, “First Burn” is the knee jerk reaction when you’re trying to cut deep and trying to hurt the other person as badly as they hurt you. In contrast, “Burn” is less “I’m angry” and more “I’m disappointed,” which ends up hurting much worse.

Make no mistake: Eliza is not happy in the musical version. We are watching her sort through the stages: “How could you do this to me?” “Were you ever mine to begin with?” “So-and-so warned me about you.” Finally, she ends with resolve: “You will not hurt me again.” For a woman presented as being so sweet and supportive up until this point, watching her come to this conclusion is empowering. Her character could have easily been a doormat, especially in contrast to the savvy and boisterous Angelica. In this song you see the kind of quiet strength she possesses, and it is amazing to see. What’s better is that she does not once in the song backtrack and question if she were the one who caused this, like so many of us tend to do in the grieving process.

Also, “Burn” has my favorite lines in the whole dang show:

I find it fascinating that Eliza not only ended up forgiving Alexander, but that they reconciled. She carried on his legacy and then some. Going back to the cancel culture note, we are so quick to cut people out of our lives when we are hurt. (There are, of course, many situations where you can and should cut people out for your physical or mental well being–these are not what I am referencing.) There is something to be said for communicating issues rather than immediately shutting the door on them. For being a culture with so many different ways to communicate, we can be really, really bad at it.

Anyway, I’ve rambled on long enough! Hopefully you enjoyed, and I’ll be back with another musical themed art piece later. Probably not so long of a post, though. 😉