A Song About the Federalist Papers

There's a song about the Federalist Papers?

Of course there is--how could I not have known?!
I wrote a whole chapter on Hamilton: An American Musical for my book for teens, Fandom: Fic Writers, Vidders, Gamers, Artists, and Cosplayers ––[oh, you can see the whole Introduction, which is about Hamilton, on Google preview––the publisher's market is school libraries, so it's too expensive for the casual reader]
––but the only song I actually listened to from the musical was "My Shot"--mostly because I used it as an example of a mash-up--
here, wonderfully! with High School Musical:


 
I tried to read Ron Chernow's biography, Hamilton--the one which inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda, but it was so frilly, I stopped after a few of its 832 pages. 

(I like the Penguin Lives series––thirty-three biographies of a couple hundred pages each.)  

Anyway, I'm not much of a music person, and while I would go see it on stage (if someone paid for my ticket), I didn't bother to listen to Hamilton––it didn't matter for my purpose, which was to write about what the FANS of the musical made in response: fanfiction, videos, games, pictures, and costumes...

So the other day when I ran into a fourteen-year-old neighbor on my way to the library, and I told her I was going to get The Federalist Papers, I was surprised that she lit up. 

A fan of US History?

No, a fan of Hamilton!

Of course.

I  looked it up, and there it was--a song about Hamilton writing 51 of the 85 papers (though not No. 10, the one I read--that was James Madison's). It's pretty compelling.




A Parental Advisory?
Warning: Promotes Political Philosophy?

Some lyrics:
 
BURR: Who’s your client?

HAMILTON: The new U.S. Constitution?

B: No way.

H: Hear me out.
A series of essays, anonymously published,
Defending the document to the public.

B: No one will read it.

H: I disagree.

CHORUS: 
"How do you write like tomorrow won’t arrive?
How do you write like you need it to survive?
How do you write ev’ry second you’re alive?
Ev’ry second you’re alive? Ev’ry second you’re alive?"