A musical suggestion for this Friday’s recommendation!
Ceinwen McNeil (she/her)
Director, Government & Innovation Kainga Ora Board Member
If you walked into my home (car, bubble!) at any point in the past few weeks, you are almost guaranteed that the Hamilton soundtrack would be blasting out. After hearing Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb recommend the soundtrack on their wonderful podcast Chats 10, Looks 3 (get on that one if you haven’t already), I downloaded the soundtrack and shared with my girls. ‘Mummmmmmm what is this?’
But oh my goodness. We have had it on high repeat, regularly chanting, shrieking and shouting (singing is not an adjective I would use to describe any of our efforts…) all of the songs, which we now know word for word. Yup that’s 46 songs, 2 hours and 23 minutes worth.
Through rap, hip-hop and R&B, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical tells the story of the US Founding Father, Alexander Hamilton. The lyrics and composition are exquisite. He captures the energy and excitement of revolution and reminds us how America is a nation built by immigrants.
While the music is infectious and brilliantly done, it has also given us a refreshing new topic to delve into while in lockdown. The girls have been researching, exploring and learning about American history. They have been inspired by the story of founding fathers, the process of creating history and living in times of major change. And while it is about the US it is also about geo-political alliances and strategy with the British and the French. What do you have to do to fight not just through combat, but through words and actions? Strategy and adaptation. The power of people motivated to design and create a new future. it is certainly different from the current US narrative, not sure if Trump has seen it or not…?
No wonder Hamilton has won a plethora of awards since premiering in 2015, including the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. I can’t wait for it to come to Australia, on the wait list for 2021. Get on it!
Note there is a little bit of language and having your ten year old shriek ‘ Southern motherf*ckin Democratic-Republicans’ isn’t for everyone!