by: Karl Risley
I am going to create a Hamilton version of “I won’t back down” by Tom Petty. I think that the title of this song describes Hamilton very well, especially during his duel correspondences with Burr. He never backed down to Burr and faced him like a gentleman would at the time in a duel. I will use my extensive knowledge about their duel to create a version of this song that describes Hamilton’s actions in the duel, and just his character in general.
“I won’t back down” by Tom Petty is an iconic rock song that really portrays a strong vibe of power and relentlessness. It is an unmistakable song which will help give the song more meaning in today’s world. I am also learning guitar at this time and believe that learning this song will be a good totally doable challenge. I also intend to have a women sing the lyrics that I write in order to bring awareness to the present sexism in America. Lin Manuel tends to focus on the injustices immigrants face in his songs. I would like to focus on sexism because I think it is an equally relevant issue in today’s society that needs to be heard. Having a women sing these strong lyrics will paint a picture of a strong women, supporting the feminist’s cause. I got the desire to focus on feminism through watching the ham4ham playlist, specifically the one where all the women in the cast sing a song.
There was a comment that I tweeted stating, “An all-female Hamilton cast like this would make my life.” I agree!
The song will incorporate a very small amount of tom petty’s original lyrics and a very small amount of my own lyrics I come up with. Most of the lyrics will come from my Lin Manuel’s songs. Songs that I have already identified as useful for this project are: “Alexander Hamilton”, “My Shot”, “Satisfied”, “Ten Duel Commandments”, “History has its eyes on you”, and “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story”. As this is merely the proposal, more songs from Hamilton the musical may prove useful.
Below is Tom Petty’s original song just in case it is new to my readers:
