Hamilton: an American Musical is truly something unique.  Lin-Manuel Miranda was somehow able to take an 800 page biography on the creator of America’s banks and then dramatize it into a hip hop broadway musical.  When Miranda first went around talking about his idea (which was a mere concept album at the time), everybody laughed at him. Then again, who could blame them?  It’s extremely far-fetched to imagine a broadway musical about the founder of the US Treasury to actually be successful, but look who’s laughing now (Lin-Manuel Miranda is laughing at all of his doubters as he does snow angels in his well-deserved earnings).  

Now I would like to talk about my experience with Hamilton.  When it first came out and everybody was talking about it, I thought of it as just another trendy thing that wouldn’t be worth my attention, but that was before I even listened to it.  The summer of 2016 was when I was actually introduced to it. My brother and sister were listening to it non-stop (pun/reference intended). It naturally came on in the car multiple times during long drives, and when I heard it, I immediately knew I had misjudged it.  The songs were catchy and it was easy to tell how much effort Miranda put into the writing. While I liked the musical at that point, I wouldn’t have called myself a fan. I was just familiar with a few of the songs (I had actually heard a cover of the Story of Tonight a few months earlier without realizing it was from the musical; I really liked it) and didn’t really know the story of the musical until last summer.  Now let’s fast forward to the summer of 2017. I watched a few videos detailing the best songs of the musical and I was very intrigued. Needless to say, I began listening to the other songs from the musical and making myself familiar with them.  My favorite song from the musical overall is Wait for It.  And on that note, it’s analysis time (a little character analysis first, but we’ll get to the actual song soon enough).

Wait for It appears as track 13 of act 1 (the halfway song of act 1).  At this point in the musical, we have been familiarized with Hamilton’s early life, we’ve been told the story of Hamilton’s meeting and marriage with Eliza, we’ve seen how Hamilton meets his main group of friends, and, most importantly, we’ve seen the meeting between Hamilton and Burr.  The only thing we haven’t seen yet (that we may have been expecting to see) is the backstory and philosophy of Aaron Burr, the man who has been set up as the main protagonist (“I’m the damn fool that shot him.” -Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton).  We also know that his and Hamilton’s ideals have a tendency to clash.  The two men are very similar; both are very accomplished young scholars with great potential, but they think very differently.  Hamilton appears as a reactionary; he takes very little time to analyze the situation and jumps into the inferno as quickly as possible.  Burr, on the other hand, is usually the last to enter the fray; he observes the events carefully and then cautiously gets involved when he feels the time is right.  Hamilton likes to say/write things without much forethought, but Burr keeps what he feels to himself most of the time. Burr’s philosophy of cautious action is emphasized in Wait for It, which acts as a bit of a soliloquy for Burr, who has been a bit mysterious up to this point in the narrative.

NOW, let’s get to the song:

The song starts out with Burr discussing his relationship with the women he loves (Theodosia, who is revealed in the previous song, the Story of Tonight Reprise, to be married to an officer in the British military).  He greatly misses his lover and agonizes over the fact he can’t marry her legally due to her not only already being married, but to a BRITISH OFFICER of all people; the very type of person Burr is currently fighting against in the Continental Army.  Despite all of the things keeping Burr and his lover from being together, Burr loves her enough to wait for her to come to his side (which eventually she does and they end up having a child together).

Burr then begins talking about those who came before him.  His “grandfather was a fire and brimstone preacher.” His “mother was a genius.”  His “father commanded respect” (his father was actually one of the founders of Princeton; very big shoes for Burr to fill).  “When they died they left no instructions, just a legacy to protect.” This actually plays into another one of the biggest differences between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.  Hamilton came from absolutely nothing; he was born on an island in the Caribbean to an ego obsessed father (apple didn’t fall far from the tree; sorry Alex) and a mother who is called a “whore” (she wasn’t actually; she was framed by her husband; she loved her family greatly).  Not very fame at all. Burr, on the other hand, was born to a very notorious and wealthy family that he is the last remaining member of. “Death doesn’t discriminate,” but it did for him; he was SPARED. To him, that means there’s a reason for him surviving, and that is to preserve his family’s hard-earned legacy.  Burr thinks that he must be very cautious with every action to ensure that his family’s legacy survives. This is actually Burr’s driving force for the rest of the show; this is the core reason of why he waits. Hamilton not having “a legacy to protect” is what makes him so rash (more on that later).
At this point, the chorus kicks in.  Let’s analyze the important quotes:

“I am the one thing in life I can control.”  Burr’s life relies on factors that are primordial and beholden to nobody.  He doesn’t determine the forces of Love, Death, Life, or Hamilton (more on that later); the only thing he can do is make sure that he’s cautious and doesn’t tarnish the carefully crafted legacy he’s been tasked with protecting.
“I am inimitable, I am an original!”  One of my personal favorite quotes from the song and the musical overall.  Sure, the Burr family has lots of fame and fortune, and that matters to Aaron Burr and has a lot of influence on his life, but that doesn’t mean that Aaron isn’t his own person.  He is not his grandfather, father, or mother, he is AARON BURR, and he is the only AARON BURR!

“I am not falling behind for running late.  I am not standing still, I’m lying in wait!”  Contrary to what others may think (specifically to what Hamilton thinks), Burr isn’t falling behind or missing out on opportunities because of his cautious tendencies; he’s always lying in wait for the best possible opportunities to present themselves.  They may be relatively rare, but when they do arise, they are worth it.

“Hamilton faces an endless uphill climb.”  Hamilton’s goals can be seen as impossible by some people (Burr is obviously one of those people).  He seeks to rise up to a point that is extremely hard to achieve, almost impossible. Also, even when Hamilton reaches a new milestone, his lack of capability to be satisfied dictates him to climb even higher.  There’s no end in sight for him; he just wants more and more.

“He has something to prove, he has nothing to lose.”  Once again, Hamilton comes from nothing. Nobody knows who he is; there are no expectations on his shoulders (YET).  He’s trying to create those expectations. He doesn’t yet have a legacy; he is trying build that legacy. Burr, on the other hand, comes from everything.  He was born into wealth and prominence. He DOES have expectations that weigh down on him every second of everyday; his family DOES have a legacy that must be guarded.  He has EVERYTHING to lose, and it takes only one wrong move for that to happen. This is why the characters are so different; they come from two completely different worlds and have completely different motives.  The one thing they have in common is that they both are driven by the idea of a legacy.

“Hamilton’s pace is relentless; he wastes no time.”  Hamilton has been giving everything to obtain the legacy he so desperately seeks.  He will never rest until he decides that he has secured it, and even then he is anxious to rise up.  It’s a never ending battle that eventually destroys the lives of those around him….
“What is it like in his shoes?”  Burr doesn’t understand Hamilton.  It’s impossible for that to happen because they’re just such different people from such different backgrounds.  
Burr now returns to his original song format of talking about the indomitable forces he faces, and this time he talks about Hamilton.  Burr says that Hamilton takes from everything and everyone. All he cares about is building up his legacy and he leaves destruction in his wake with every action he takes, yet he seems to always win.  Keep in mind that Burr is singing this in the same way he sings about love, death, and life. This shows that Burr views Hamilton as an indomitable Force in his life; a force on par with love, death, and life; a force that he’ll never be able to defeat.  “He changes the game. He plays and he raises the stakes.” Fame is the name of the game in the 18th Century. Everything is about bloodlines and legacies and monarchies. Hamilton has none of that. Since Hamilton can’t play the main game, he rewrites it and plays it his own way, often to the detriment of others.  We see this later on in the Room Where it Happens (another one of my favorite songs and Burr’s best performances), where Hamilton creates a new, radical, and yes, game changing financial system in exchange for the capital heading South.  There’s also a case to be made that Hamilton’s status as Washington’s right hand man is an example of this manipulation and game changing. Hamilton being able to get away with all of this game changing and rule breaking obviously infuriates Burr, but Burr knows that he must take his time.  The opportunity to surpass Hamilton will come soon enough, but he must wait until then.
The final verse is about life’s twists and turns and navigating them.  This also most closely relates to the ultimate goals and motivations of Burr.  He wants to win (obviously), and for him, a win means him dying at 80 years old leaving behind a legacy not only untarnished, but greater than what those who came before him left behind.  “If there’s a reason I’m still alive when so many have died, then I’m willing to wait for it.” Burr has seen so much. His family has suffered so many shortcomings, but none of them have been able to bring him down.  He is a survivor, and he must keep it that way. That is the only way for him to protect his legacy. Hamilton may be pushing his buttons and pissing him off, but to act to early would bring him down, and he can’t allow that to happen.  Because of all of this, he has to keep waiting for each new opportunity to present itself. That’s the way to win….

A Connection to Hamilton’s Storyline: Track 13 of the second act is actually very similar to Wait for It. I am referring to Hurricane.  This is Hamilton’s own soliloquy.  Here, Hamilton reflects on his life, specifically the hurricane that obliterated his own town when he was only 17 years old.  He remembers how he was able to escape the situation; he impressed enough people with his writing to have them crowdfund his passage on the ship that brought him to New York City.  He then relates that situation of his literal hurricane experience to his current and more figurative hurricane experience (Hurricane Thomas Madison-Burr is the name of Ham’s current predicament).  Both times he’s been in grave danger. The hurricane that destroyed his town could’ve very well physically killed Alexander, but the hurricane brought about by the discovery and exposure of the Reynolds Affair would’ve done something much worse in Hamilton’s point of view; it would’ve killed any chance he had of maintaining the legacy he had spent his whole life building up to that point.  So, let’s understand Hamilton’s point of view here: he’s been struck by a hurricane for the second time in his life. He looks back to see how he got out of the first one. He got out of that one by writing. Hamilton figures “It worked one time, so it has to work again.” Alas, it didn’t. Hamilton made the reckless decision of exposing the affair himself (THE REYNOLDS PAMPHLET). He thinks  that it’s the only to protect his legacy. Wait, what was that again? Hamilton is trying to PROTECT HIS LEGACY?!  LIKE BURR?!  Yes, yes indeed!  Hamilton has gotten to a point where he has a lot going for him: his financial plan was passed, he has a family to carry on his torch, and he has achieved what he’s always wanted: fame and a positive reputation.  However, that fame and positive reputation comes with big expectations and tests, and that’s what happens when the Democratic-Republicans confront him about what they think is evidence of financial wrongdoings. Yes, Hamilton made a mistake by cheating on his wife (poor Eliza; she deserved none of this), but he could’ve avoided the word getting out if he’d just left it alone and trusted that his enemies wouldn’t do anything with it (and I do believe that they would’ve kept quiet, at least for a while).  Instead, Hamilton decides to expose his crimes himself under the impression that it wouldn’t make him look as bad. Of course, it all goes wrong, and Hamilton ends up severely wounding not only his delicate legacy, but his marriage.

Anyway, let’s take a step back for a second because Wait for It and Hurricane are very interesting in the way that the mirror each other.  The two songs are about the main characters facing their own respective challenges (Burr’s falling behind Hamilton and Hamilton’s affair).  Look at the way each character responds to their challenge. Burr decides to take things slow, but Hamilton decides to make a reckless decision and in the process destroys nearly everything he’d been working so hard to build.  Burr actually starts to say his “wait for it” refrain as Hamilton is about to publicize the affair. He’s almost acting as some sort of voice in Hamilton’s head…. Yes, Burr is a crucial piece of Hamilton. While Hamilton acts as an external force that keeps Burr moving forward, Burr is an internal voice for Hamilton that subconsciously keeps him in check.  Of course, Hamilton defies the advice given to him by Burr’s subconscious messaging, but the fact that he’s even able to hear that advice at all shows us that Hamilton does recognize Burr as an important piece of himself.

CONCLUSION: All of the stuff I wrote above contributes to my opinion that Burr is the best character.  His world gets torn apart so many times throughout his life (some stuff doesn’t even make it to the musical), and yet he is still somehow able to persist.  He is always thinking of the long term and recognizes that is takes time and patience to move through life. No matter how hard he gets hit, Aaron Burr always manages to get back up.  His character represents resilience; not giving into the forces attempting to tear him down. He is able to do this until the very end, where his rash act of shooting Hamilton ends up destroying his legacy and forever painting him as the “villain in your [our] history.”  Burr did indeed die a bit that day in Weehawken. When he killed Hamilton, he killed a crucial part of his life and identity, and you can see that by looking at Burr’s life after the duel. His beloved daughter Theodosia (the second) went missing in a shipwreck and Burr dealt the fatal blow to his political reputation when he made a very reckless and shady deal during the Louisiana Purchase.  His guiding force was gone. When Burr was moving too slow, Hamilton boosted him forward. When Hamilton was moving to fast, Burr slowed him down. They balanced each other out. Without Hamilton, Burr went off the deep end, and so did his legacy. It’s a sad story, but it’s one we can all learn from. Even if we are cautious for our whole life, it takes one reckless act to turn everything to disaster.