By: Arfa Ul-Haque
Since its release in 2015, Hamilton has had many remixes and adaptations, especially through the Hamilton Mixtape and Hamildrops which present another side of the characters and transform iconic lines from the musical into their own songs. One of the biggest effects of these remixes is to make the messages of the songs more relatable and to generalize them to contexts outside of the musical. Another purpose of these adaptations is to offer a new perspective on a character and illustrate how replacing one song in the musical could have changed a character’s role in the story, as seen in “First Burn”.
“First Burn” is a song told from the point of view of Eliza Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton’s wife, as a reaction to the recount of his affair in the Reynolds Pamphlet, in lieu of “Burn” from the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Hamilton.
The song begins with same lyrics and melody as “Burn” before transitioning to an aggressive tone once Eliza commands Hamilton not to “take a step in [her] direction”. Instead of removing herself from his narrative, she forces him out of hers. Just by this line, it’s clear that this version of Eliza is angrier than the version of Eliza in “Burn”, where she is heartbroken and uses that pain to destroy Hamilton’s legacy of writing.
One of the main differences between “Burn” and “First Burn” is Angelica’s role in the relationship between Eliza and Hamilton. Angelica’s characterization with the final version of “Burn”, as well as her role in Eliza meeting Hamilton and supporting her sister after the affair, builds the relationship between the sisters. If the original version had been placed in the musical instead, their relationship would be damaged as Eliza calls out Hamilton for shamelessly flirting with other women: “I see how you look at my sister”. Therefore, the final version maintained a consistent portrayal of Eliza.
Although the Eliza we see in “First Burn” is more reactionary than the one in “Burn”, Eliza’s response in the final version of the song is more powerful. In destroying Hamilton’s letters, Eliza takes power over Hamilton and controls his legacy rather than admonishing him for his infidelity. In attacking Hamilton for his “senseless” and “paranoid” writing rather than for his impulsiveness and selfishness, she makes him feel the same amount of pain she felt due to his unfaithfulness.
For my Remix and Adaptation Project, I will try to make sure that I portray the characters in a consistent characterization. I will also work on making the purpose of my adaptation understandable to a general audience, even those unfamiliar with Hamilton.