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?"
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?"
The musical Hamilton got a 14-year old girl excited about The Federalist Papers? Lin-Manuel deserves a freaking Medal of Freedom!
ReplyDeleteIs it wrong that I feel somehow golden because he and I have the same birthday? January 16.
I tried to listen to the whole track from Hamilton, but the rapid-fire lyric tires me out. I didn't sleep well last night. You need a lot of energy to hang with Hamilton.
I looked up your book about Fandom and it looks to be a very excellent resource for old farts who need yoof culture explained. Someone I know said she never heard of "Netflix and chill" until yesterday and I had to tell her it's already passed. I hope I was right. Was I?
ReplyDeleteVIVIAN: Yeah all of a sudden (a few years ago), everyone knows who the guy on the $10 bill is too!
ReplyDeleteLin-Manuel hasn't won the Medal of Freedom, but he's done pretty well with awards, Wikipedia lists:
Emmy Award
Grammy Award
MacArthur Fellowship
Pulitzer Prize
Tony Award
Same birthday as Hamilton? Stay away from duels!
Yes, my Fandom book would be a good guide for adults---maybe more than for kids who may know most of it already (and more).
When I proposed the book to the publisher, most of the middle-aged staff didn't even know what fandom was!
My go-to reference for pop culture is Know Your Meme.
Since they say "Netflix and chill" is from 2014 (from Black Twitter), I figure it's well and truly passed on, yes indeed.
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/netflix-and-chill
This song is amazing. My kids (“kids”?) are very keen on Hamilton. I was going to say that I have yet to be bitten by the Hamilton bug, but I think maybe I just was.
ReplyDeleteMICHAEL: Hm, maybe I was just bitten too!
ReplyDeleteI was so overwhelmed with media when I was writing "Fandom", afterward I hardly watched or listened to any at all. (Really.) Only recently have I gone to see a few more movies and watched some Netflix (binge watched "The Good Place").
P.S. Your kids are always kids, aren't they?
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard much of Hamilton's music, but what I have heard I've liked. I can see why kids like it.
ReplyDeleteBINK: It's good, isn't it! I am, I *am* going to sit down and listen to the whole thing, all the way through. . . one of these days.
ReplyDelete