NOCTILUCA June 2016

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CULTURE
Appleton, Wisconsin June 2016 Vol. XXI Issue III Page 10
By Rachel Flom‘Hamilton’: A soundtrack to remember
• “Ground Up”
-Dan & Shay
• “Wanted”
-Hunter Hayes
• “Mayday”
-Cam
• “Die a Happy Man”
-Thomas Rhett
• “Holy”
-Florida Georgia Line
One of the most popular songs of the show, “Alex-
ander Hamilton,” is showcased above on one of the
many iTunes playlists it now occupies. Photo courtesy
of Nora Ptacek
One of the most up-
and-coming rap albums
includes songs about heart-
break and betrayal, life
goals and love, and even
politics. However, it’s not
the typical rap album. Lin-
Manuel Miranda, a Broad-
way star known for his
scoring of Into the Heights,
recently created, scored
and starred in Hamilton, a
musical about founding fa-
ther Alexander Hamilton.
Alexander Hamilton, an
immigrant from the Ca-
ribbean, helped create the
United States Constitution,
became the first ever Sec-
retary of the Treasury, and
had one of the most infa-
mous political sex scan-
dals at the time. Although
the story of Hamilton’s life
takes place mainly during
the 18th century, the is-
sues that he faced are still
relevant today. In fact, a
majority of Hamilton’s fan-
base includes teenagers and
college students.
The album focuses on
the major events that oc-
curred during Alexander
Hamilton’s lifetime, from
the first Constitutional
Convention to the election
of Thomas Jefferson to the
death of Alexander and his
son. The album is split into
two acts, which are divided
into the beginning half and
ending half of Alexander’s
life; Act I is about the rises
and successes of Hamilton
and his close ones, whereas
Act II is about the ultimate
fall of the formerly beloved
founding father.
Each of the numbers fea-
tured in the 46-song musi-
cal illustrate the emotions
and thoughts of the main
characters, including Ham-
ilton, his family, his fellow
founding fathers, and his
enemies.
The musical is known
for fast-paced and high-
stakes songs like “Cabinet
Battle #1,” “Cabinet Battle
#2,” and “Guns and Ships,”
the last of which is one of
the fastest-paced songs in
Broadway history. Rapping
a record-breaking 16 words
in a mere 3 seconds, Dav-
eed Diggs, who plays for-
mer president Thomas Jef-
ferson, also raps the songs
that feature Marquis de La-
fayette, a French military
officer who was an Ameri-
can ally during the Revolu-
tionary War.
Most of the songs in the
album have historical back-
ground information within
them; “Non-Stop” is about
the Federalist Papers be-
ing written, whereas “The
Reynold’s Pamphlet” is
about Alexander’s written
admittance of his affair.
Hamilton, despite being
known as a rap and hip hop
album, truly is meant for
everyone. History fanat-
ics will adore “Alexander
Hamilton,” “Schuyler De-
feated,” and “The Election
of 1800,” along with the
rest of the musical. For the
heart-eyed romantic, songs
like “Helpless” and “Dear
Theodosia” are bound to
make eyes start to water.
For those that love a good
heartbreaker, “It’s Quiet
Uptown” and “Burn” will
create an emotional roller
coaster. To recover from
those songs, try listening
to the upbeat tempos found
in “The Schuyler Sisters,”
“What’d I Miss?” and
“Take a Break.”
To those that refuse to
listen to anything under the
rap or hip hop genre, try
listening to Hamilton. With
46 songs that are nothing
like the one before, there’s
guaranteed to be a song
that will make your feet
start tapping or get your
heart pumping. The songs
featured in the Hamilton
album bring life to the cen-
turies-old founding fathers,
making the creation of our
nation seem like it occurred
20 minutes ago instead of
200 years ago. Even the
historical figures—who
seem nothing like us in to-
day’s world—become re-
latable.
With its versatile song
choice and abundance of
historical and musical ref-
erences, Hamilton is an
album (and musical) that
everyone can love. Lin-
Manuel Miranda’s dedica-
tion to the life of Alexander
Hamilton has truly paid
off; the Grammy-winning
album tugs at the heart-
strings of parents, teachers,
Broadway-fanatics, and ev-
eryday people.
If you haven’t experi-
enced the phenomenal mu-
sical and scoring of Ham-
ilton, you don’t know what
you’re missing. History
class will seem intriguing
after spending just over two
hours being exposed to the
gift that is Hamilton. After
all, Miranda and his songs
have proved that founding
fathers, as “ancient” and
“unrelatable” as they may
seem, are more similar to
us than we think.
What’s on your playlist?
By Maddy Schilling
• “Mad Hatter”
- Melanie Martinez
• “Half About Being a Wom-
an”
- Caroline Smith
• “Talk Me Down”
-Troye Sivan
• “Love Me”
-The 1975
• “South”
-Hippo Campus
Natalie Painton
Freshman
Briana Arnold
Sophomore
Maeve Salm
Junior
Evan Erb
Senior
Ms. Vechart
Choir Teacher
• “The Wolves” (Act I and
II) -Bon Iver
• “Come Talk to Me”
-Peter Gabriel
• “Avalanche”
-Walk the Moon
• “I Found”
-Amber Run
• “Fire and the Flood”
-Vance Joy
• “Photograph”
-Def Leppard
• “Walking on a Dream”
-Empire of the Sun
• “Human”
-The Human League
• “Down”
-Mat Kearney
• “Staying Out All Night”
-Wiz Khalifa
• “Move (Keep Walkin’)”
-TobyMac
• “Diamonds”
-Hawk Nelson
• “Alone”
-Hollyn ft. TRU
• “Not Backing Down”
-Blanca
• “Happiness”
-Needtobreathe