By: Clarisa Colton
An element of the writing in Hamilton that I have found interesting is the emphasis placed on the passage of time. There is a contrast apparent almost from the very beginning of the show placed between Hamilton and Burr, and one facet of this contrast is how they think about time. From the very first song, “Alexander Hamilton” (https://genius.com/Lin-manuel-miranda-alexander-hamilton-lyrics), we can see this with the line near the end where the whole cast sings, “You never learned to take your time”. As we see throughout the first act, Hamilton is very keen on getting things done quickly – he wants to make things happen, whereas Burr is more seen as someone who will sit back and wait for things to happen as they will. In addition to this, repeated throughout the song, as well as the rest of the act, is the line “Just you wait”. This also is a reference to time in a different way, in that we can see how time will pass, and things will change because of this. This is different from some of the other ways we see Hamilton talk about time, as usually there are references made to the fact that he can’t wait, so it’s interesting that this is one of the main repeated phrases throughout the musical.
It’s also interesting because Hamilton has a sense of impatience about him – perhaps the way in which the line “just you wait” is repeated is different for Hamilton than it is for Burr. Hamilton is saying, “just you wait”, because I’m here and I’m going to do something, but for Burr it’s more of a literal “just you wait”, because I’m not in any rush to get things done, although he does still want to get them done. I think a song that shows the disparity between Hamilton and Burr’s attitudes towards time is in the song “Wait for It”( https://genius.com/Lin-manuel-miranda-wait-for-it-lyrics), which is just Burr singing with the rest of the cast in the background. It basically is about how he is willing to wait for things to happen for him, in stark contrast to Hamilton.
Later on in the musical, during the song “Non-Stop”( https://genius.com/Lin-manuel-miranda-non-stop-lyrics), we can see a direct reference from Burr about Hamilton’s eagerness to finish things quickly in the lines,
Why do you write like you’re running out of time?
Write day and night like you’re running out of time?
Ev’ry day you fight, like you’re running out of time”.
Really, this whole song is referencing Hamilton’s intolerance for waiting for things to change – he wanted to change things right then and there. In the end, Hamilton’s rush to get things done was probably the best things he could’ve done, because as we all know his life was cut short. He was literally running out of time.
