The song “Take A Break” has many different layers to it,
which somewhat overlap. It starts with Eliza and Phillip practicing piano and counting
in French. It then goes directly into Alexander Hamilton writing a letter to
Angelica that reads “My dearest, Angelica” it then goes into problems that he
is having with Congress, and later has Hamilton and Angelica singing about how
they miss each other. It then goes back to Eliza who is telling Alexander to
come down to supper because Phillip has a surprise for him. Philip then begins
to rap a poem for his dad about various facts in his life. Alexander then talks
about how awesome Phillip is when Eliza starts talking about how she wants
Hamilton to go on vacation with her and Phillip, which Hamilton responds as
being too busy. This made me wonder if Miranda was trying to show just how
overwhelmed and confused Hamilton was by having this song not only go from
character to character, but also from topic to topic.
The song then goes to Angelica writing a letter to Hamilton
saying that he has to sit down with Congress and work it out, but also that he
wrote to her before “My dearest, Angelica” instead of My Dearest Angelica,
which changed the meaning inferring that Hamilton still has feelings for her.
She also says that Eliza invited her home for the summer to go on vacation, and
that she can’t wait to see him. The song then goes to Eliza saying that
Angelica had arrived, and the two greet each other. Alexander then welcomes
Angelica, except she then finds out that Hamilton is not going on vacation with
them. Then Angelica and Eliza sing t Alexander many reasons why he should go
with them and take a break, however Hamilton answers with saying that he cannot
stop until his plan gets through Congress, which is where the song ends.
Another thing that I thought about when listening carefully
to the words of this song is that Eliza and Angelica both kept singing “Take A
Break.” I thought that this was interesting and possibly foreshadowing Hamilton’s
infidelity, because today when people in a relationship say take a break, it
means to go without seeing each other for a while and that braking up was
possible. This makes me think that Miranda was trying to foreshadow Hamilton’s
affair by the language and the fact that Hamilton would be away from Eliza and
Angelica.
I think the most interesting thing about this song, which you touched on, is that it's called "Take a Break," and yet it's an extremely chaotic song, with a host of different twists and turns. I do think that it's more important in the story of the show than a lot of people credit it for, with lots of emotions, tensions, and revelations. As you said, lots of layers.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it was trying to show how chaotic the life was. The vocals throughout are evidence enough. I think, though, that an effective bit would have had backup vocalists discussing various things Hamilton needed to do in the background, to add that extra layer.
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