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Hamming it up: Analyzing the Lyrics of "Hamilton"Main MenuWelcomeHistory Is HappeningWelcome One! Welcome All!"Alexander Hamilton"The Start"Aaron Burr, Sir"Let's meet the gang!"My Shot"Don't Throw it Away"The Story of Tonight"The Calm Before the Storm"The Schuyler Sisters"Here come the Ladies!"Farmer Refuted"Tension Builds with England"You'll Be Back"The King has Arrived"Right Hand Man"General George Washington enters"A Winter's Ball"A Night Out on the Town"Helpless"Love has Something To Do With It"Satisfied"Angelica's Mind"The Story of Tonight (reprise)"A Moment Between Friends"Stay Alive"Loved One's Prayer"Ten Duel Commandments"Gentlemen's Fight"Meet Me Inside"A Change"That Would Be Enough"Reassurance"Guns and Ships"France's Assist"History Has Its Eyes On You"A Warning To Alexander"Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)"Battle Begins and Ends"What Comes Next?"Peace Out from the King"Dear Theodosia"The New Generation"Non-Stop"And We're Back!"What'd I Miss"Welcome Jefferson"Cabinet Battle #1"Hamilton VS Jefferson: Round 1"Take a Break"A Wife's Request To Relax"Say No To This"Another Women"The Room Where It Happens"Conversation Between Delagates"Schuyler Defeated"Tides Start To Turn"Cabinet Battle #2"Hamilton VS Jefferson: Round 2"Washington On Your Side"Toe to Toe"One Last Time"Going Out With A Bang"I Know Him"A Final Message from the King"The Adams Administration"Change in Rulings"We Know"Secrets are Told"Hurricane"A Choice Is Made"The Reynolds Pamphlet"Knowledge For All"Burn"Eliza's Moment Alone"Blow Us All Away"Philip's Challenge"Stay Alive (reprise)"A Family Pulled Apart"It's Quiet Uptown"Taking In The Night"The Election of 1800"The Government Changes"Your Obedient Servant"Alexander and Aaron Talk"Best of Wives and Best of Women"The Girls"The World Was Wide Enough"Who Shot First?"Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story"The EndWorks CitedThanks for the Help!Natalie Meyersa9d906142e0dc902d8e00a7e48ef9f0bc6c832e2
Lyrics with Character Names: Total Words: 567, Words Counted Once: 163 Most common Words: "Wait" (41 times), "Takes" (15 times), "Burr" (13 times) Lyrics without Character Names: Total Words: 538, Words Counted Once: 158 Most Common Words: "Wait" (41 times), "Takes" (15 times), "I'm" (12 times)
In "Wait For It" the audience receives insight to Aaron Burr's logic and why he is fighting so hard to make his own legacy. Like Alexander, Aaron grew up without parents, and although he is currently seeing a married girl, his love of his parent’s legacy and for Theodosia, the girl, make all of the struggles with Alexander Hamilton worth the wait. If Hamilton can do it than Aaron Burr believes he can too.
Aaron Burr also repeats himself a lot in this song because each time it is sung it allows the words to sink deeper and deeper. At the start of the song it is more like Burr is just saying his thoughts about life, but as he continues to use the words "wait" and "takes" it starts to frustrate him like out of all the sets of cards to be dealt in life, he was given this one. But when as he repeats "wait for it" and the ensemble joins in with the same phrase, allows the audience to see Burr reassure himself that he can create legacy he so desperately desires.
It is fascinating that in the third most common word stop is "Burr" and "I'm" because they go hand-in-hand. This song is specific to Aaron Burr because it is almost like a musical monologue that allows the audience to understand why Burr fights Hamilton. They both are living in an individualistic society (hence the word “I’m") while desiring to make their own legacy in the line of government. Naturally there is competition between the two and this allows the audience to see life from Burr's side. I believe this song gets at the audience because the lyrics tell a story of one man who cannot control the love he has lost in life, but he wants to make his name last in some way or another. It is a play on natural human emotion. Now it may not be the extent that Burr is facing, but it can be very hard to push forward when there is so much tragedy in one's life. The normally composed Burr showed his true colors and invite the audience to continue to wait for whatever destiny or legacy they will create in their own lives.