Hamilton Deconstructed: “Alexander Hamilton”
Image from Hamilton musical.
Jack McCord
Cementing itself in the hall of fame of modern day musicals, Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton elicits many feelings of fear, anger, sadness, happiness, and more. Unlike many musicals before, Miranda pushes hip-hop and rap, Latin cultures, military fanfares and more into his genre bending, extravagant performance. With the show's release over a decade ago, an in depth analysis is long overdue. In this series, I'll be exploring the themes of the show through its lyrical greatness, its theatrical excellence, and every other hidden detail embedded within.
To dive straight in, “Alexander Hamilton,” the intro to the musical, carries all the aspects of a perfect overture in the first few bars alone. A typical musical overture is around five to eight minutes, but “Alexander Hamilton,” a four minute song, manages to fit the show's themes of fanfares, hip hop, and classic musical theater ideals in less than five seconds.
Representing the American revolution almost perfectly is the fanfare. Following a series of eighth notes and triplet 16th notes, “Alexander Hamilton” brings a rhythm that is immediately recognizable to any Hamilton fans. This drum line is played on a snare, which is very similar to what early military marching bands would have used during the time of the revolution. The beat perfectly foreshadows the song “My Shot," with each beat lining up perfectly with one syllable from the lyrics, “I am not throwing away my shot.” This can be seen at the end of the song, when the lyrics and the drum beats line up. Every time this motif comes back thereafter brings a sense of both familiarity as well as a nod to the militaristic vibes of the show.
Layered atop the fanfare drums are the hip-hop centric record scratches. These scratches tell the audience that the musical coming up is unlike many of its predecessors. It tells the audience that this is a clash of genres and a completely unique take on a musical. The scratches could also be a representation of time. Throughout the musical, we hear vinyl scratches, as well as rewind effects, that are often paired with the idea that time is running out, or that time has to reset as seen in the song “Satisfied.” It's not just the scratches that come from hip-hop, it's also chord loops. Set up in the overture is this idea of looped chords for certain characters. The loops then carry throughout the show, most notably in “Wait for It” and “My Shot.” These loops can be found in “Alexander Hamilton” as its premier song. As far as the role of scratches and vinyls goes, it is one of the most important motifs embedded throughout the musical and is perfectly set up in the show's 5 second overture.
“Alexander Hamilton” has one more aspect that perfectly sets up the show. The “door squeak” sound that perfectly pairs with the fanfare drums is one of the many metaphors embedded throughout. It carries many themes of the show, where the war is the same as an open door—an opportunity awaiting. Like many other musicals, Hamilton has many small themes within. The door theme can be associated with characters like Aaron Burr, especially exemplified in “The Room Where It Happened.” The door squeak motif is a perfect representation of small musical theater themes.
To wrap up part one of this series, “Alexander Hamilton” is a perfect overture. It embodies all the aspects of the musical in just two bars, whilst keeping everyone engaged. When you go and rewatch the musical, I urge you to listen for all these small deliberate details and motifs embedded throughout.
