Saturday, October 17, 2015

Song of the Week

There were a lot of big releases this week (Beach House! Josh Ritter! Majical Cloudz!) but I haven't listened to them enough to really develop an opinion yet. But uh, surprise Beach House? What could be better?

No, no, this week's song is from Hamilton. You all know Hamilton. How could you not? Four out of five stories on every theater-related website is about that musical. Now, I don't really love it as much as everyone else does. Or really, I don't love it at all. I haven't seen it yet (has anyone? or is that just an urban myth? Are people actually in the room where it happens?) and I can't find it in me to listen to the whole score in one sitting. Part of it has to do with the fact that I don't like rap at all, and another part is the simple fact that I don't listen to many showtunes these days. Especially new stuff. But I think the opening of the musical is great, really, but the real standout for me (thus far) is "The Room Where It Happens." Talk about a perfect showtune. It has fantastic lyrics (sorry, it's so simple but I'm not over the line "well I arranged the meeting, I arranged the venue, the menu, the seating"), it advances the plot, and Leslie Odom Jr. is so great on it (so is Daveed Diggs.) I am totally in love with the way he sings "hold you nose and close your eyes." But the song is also a great exercise in developing character. Listen to it and you too will be like "GRRR ALEXANDER HAMILTON!" I totally can see why Burr wanted to shoot him.


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