Music Monday: Lin-Manuel Miranda

You may know him from Hamilton - which I'll definitely feature heavily here - but in addition to making Broadway relevant again and being the most positive person on Twitter, this week's subject has been a busy, busy man. It's Music Monday, and we're talking about Lin-Manual Miranda.

I've never seen one of Lin-Manuel Miranda's plays. My attempts at the Hamilton ticket lottery when I was in NYC failed, and I never had the opportunity to watch In The Heights. But, fortunately, LMM's songs tell the story even without the visual element.

In The Heights

Miranda's first musical hit Broadway in 2008, when he was only 28. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical. That's right, his first effort, significantly weaker than his second, was the musical of the year. With Latin beats and a story of a young man in Washington Heights, this musical's story was a step removed from Lin-Manuel's own. Usnavi, the lead character - played by LMM - was an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, whereas Miranda is from Puerto Rico. This is the musical's opening song, which features not only LMM, but also future Hamilton star Christopher Jackson as Benny. This is In The Heights:

Sample lyric:

I am Usnavi and you prob’ly never heard my name
Reports of my fame are greatly exaggerated
Exacerbated by the fact that my syntax
Is highly complicated 'cuz I emigrated
From the single greatest little place in the Caribbean:
Dominican Republic!
I love it!

One of the hallmarks of LMM's career has been writing stellar roles and songs for women. And ITH is no exception. The second song in the musical features one of the two female leads, Nina, home after dropping out of college. This is Breathe:

Sample lyric:

They regard me with pride
And everyone’s sweet
They say, “You’re going places!’
So how can I say that while I was away
I had so much to hide!

The final song I'll share from this one is the Act 1 finale, which is tumultuous and features the entire cast. This is such a signature LMM song, complex and powerful. This is Blackout:

Sample lyric:

We are
powerless

Proto Hamilton

In 2009, Lin-Manuel Miranda was asked to perform in the White House. Instead of whatever they expected him so sing, he performed the first song from what was then going to be a concept album about Alexander Hamilton. You can actually see the crowd - including the Obamas - thinking, at first, that this is a ridiculous notion, and getting won over. On the piano is Alex Lacamoire, the future Music Director, Orchestrator, and Conductor for Hamilton. This is Lin-Manuel Miranda performing an early version of what would be come Alexander Hamilton:

Sample lyric:

I'm the damn genius
that shot him

21 Chump Street

In 2014, LMM cooperated with This American Life and created for them a musical based on a real life story of a young man entrapped by a police officer to buy her drugs. You can watch the entire thing here, and I'm featuring the main song here, sung by future Hamilton star Anthony Ramos. This is What the Heck I Gotta Do:

Sample lyric:

It's too late to be shy. And so I got in front of the whole class one day, and serenaded her. I was like, what the heck I gotta do to be with you?

Hamilton

And then, in January 2015, Hamilton took the stage off-Broadway, in the public theater. By the time it opened in the Rogers on Broadway in August of 2015, it was a massive hit. And it hasn't slowed down. One of the reasons for this post is the news that negotiations are ongoing for the rights to screen the video made of the original cast performing the show on the big screen or on Netflix. The first song I'll feature is the full cast's performance at the Grammy Awards of the final version of the opening song - the same song from two paragraphs ago. This is Alexander Hamilton:

sample lyric:

I'm the damn fool
that shot him

Deciding which songs to play from the musical is hard, y'all. If you haven't heard it, I really need you to hear it. But you can do that on your own on whatever music streaming service you use. It's on all of them, and it's also all available on youtube in a great variety of videos. I will put in some of the most iconic songs, in various formats. With that said, here's the song that tells you all about Alexander Hamilton at the start of the play. This is My Shot:

Sample lyric:

I’m a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal
Tryin’ to reach my goal. My power of speech: unimpeachable

I mentioned how great LMM is at writing songs and roles for women, and the Schuyler sisters of Hamilton are a shining example of that. I'll play one for each in the first act, both telling the same story, of the first meeting between Alex and Eliza, which was also the first meeting between Alex and Angelica. First, the story from Eliza's vantage point. Sung by Phillipa Soo, this is Helpless:

Sample lyric:

I have never been the type to try and grab the spotlight
We were at a revel with some rebels on a hot night
Laughin’ at my sister as she’s dazzling the room
Then you walked in and my heart went “Boom!”

But this story has, as previously indicated, more than one viewpoint. This is Angelica's. Sung and rapped by the magnificent Renée Elise Goldsberry, this is Satisfied:

Sample lyric:

I have never been the same
Intelligent eyes in a hunger-pang frame
And when you said “Hi,” I forgot my dang name
Set my heart aflame, ev’ry part aflame

A case can be made that Miranda wrote the best songs in the musical for other people, and especially for the character of Aaron Burr, as played and sung by the great Leslie Odom. This is Wait For It:

Sample lyric:

Hamilton doesn’t hesitate
He exhibits no restraint
He takes and he takes and he takes
And he keeps winning anyway
He changes the game
He plays and he raises the stakes
And if there’s a reason
He seems to thrive when so few survive, then Goddamnit—
I'm willing to wait for it

I will end the first act with the cast's performance at the Tony awards - the one where they won a huge pile of awards. This is the showstopping number where the future USA wins the revolutionary war. Introduced by the Obamas and Common, this is Yorktown:

Sample lyric:

I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory
This is where it gets me: on my feet
The enemy ahead of me
If this is the end of me, at least I have a friend with me
Weapon in my hand, a command, and my men with me

I'll only share one song from act 2, for several reasons. It's super depressing. Also, it is kinda dependent on act 1. And, well, I don't like it as much. But as the Hamilton story starts at the White House, I wanted to wrap it up - for now - at the same place. This is Lin-Manuel Miranda and Chris Jackson singing One Last Time:

Sample lyric:

One last time
Relax, have a drink with me
One last time
Let’s take a break tonight
And then we’ll teach them how to say goodbye
To say goodbye
You and I

Moana

Before Hamilton hit the stage, Miranda was already hired to help write the music for a little Disney film called Moana. I'll feature three songs from the musical, all of which LMM wrote or co-wrote. Starting with the one that got LMM an Oscar nomination. This is the breakout song for Moana, sung by Auli'i Cravalho. This is How Far I'll Go:

Sample lyric:

Every turn I take, every trail I track
Every path I make, every road leads back
To the place I know where I cannot go
Where I long to be

The next song is a bit infamous, as it is sung by a great wrestler, a terrific actor, who is... not the best singer. And really not the best rapper. Sung by The Rock, this is You're Welcome:

Sample lyric:

So, what can I say except "you're welcome"?
For the islands I pulled from the sea
There's no need to pray, it's okay, you're welcome
I guess it's just my way of being me
You're welcome, you're welcome

And, finally, the film's big finish, where Miranda does some singing. This is the reprise of We Know The Way:

Sample lyric:

We are explorers reading every sign
We tell the stories of our elders in a never-ending chain

The Hamilton Mixtape

Well, of course we'd go back to Hamilton, because Lin-Manuel did, with the Hamilton Mixtape, featuring an amazing lineup of artists creating cover versions of and songs inspired by Hamilton. I'll feature three songs from the mixtape, one cover and two songs inspired by bits of the musical. I'll start with the cover. This is a live performance from the launch event for the mixtape, where Andra Day delivers a remarkable cover of Burn:

Sample lyric:

You and your words flooded my senses
Your sentences left me defenseless
You built me palaces out of paragraphs
You built cathedrals

Next is the song that was released first from the mixtape, and the first to get an official video. This song is inspired by one of the musical's most iconic lines. Performed by K'naan, and featuring Residente, Riz MC & Snow Tha Product, this is Immigrants (We Get The Job Done):

Sample lyric:

Baby boy, it's hard times
When you ain't sent for
Racists feed the belly of the beast
With they pitchforks, rich chores
Done by the people that get ignored

Finally, this is the one song on the mixtape where LMM isn't just sampled, but actually raps, referencing his life, and In The Heights. Oh, and also Nas, Dave East, and Aloe Blacc. This is Wrote My Way Out:

Sample lyric:

These sentences are endless, so what if they leave me friendless?
"Damn, you got no chill," fuckin' right—I'm relentless

Polka

So, previous Music Monday subject "Weird" Al Yancovic created the Hamilton Polka, which condensed the musical into a two minute polka. But the Hamilton casts will not be outdone. They released a lipsync version of the song, with all of the current casts. Because that's how they roll. This is, well, The Hamilton Polka:

Millennials

During work on Moana, Dwayne Johnson and Lin-Manuel Miranda became pals. Somehow, this lead to Millennials: The Musical:

Puerto Rico

LMM has been very active in trying to help Puerto Rico, the island his parents emigrated from. These days, it's more about the ongoing hurricane relief, but in 2016, he appeared on Last Week Tonight to try and get people to care about the island's debt problem. This is 100 Miles Across:

Sample lyric:

This is an island a hundred miles across
A hurricane is coming and we're runnin' up a loss

After the hurricane, LMM was a major part of organizing pretty much every musical artist to come from Puerto Rico or with any kind of roots in the island for a fundraiser song, which he wrote. This is Almost Like Praying:

Sample lyric:

Say it loud and there's music playing…
Say it soft and it's almost like praying

There are a million more clips online related to LMM and his work. Google "lin-manuel miranda freestyle" for some fun times. Or visit the Hamilton youtube channel for so much goodness.

Wait. I can't go without this one thing. This is a video from Lin's wedding. He organized a huge part of the wedding party to create a surprise performance of "To Life" from Fiddler On The Roof. It's like the best flashmob ever.

Waaaait. One last thing, for real. This one isn't a song. This is from the Drunk History episode about Alexander Hamilton as told, of course, by Lin-Manuel Miranda: