my favourite Hamilton songs!

Hey everyone! Welcome back to A Teen Called Tara, I hope you’re having a good Friday. Just had a massive physics test today which I’m glad to have finally got out of the way! The exam rush is *almost* over…

For the sixth day of Blogmas, I’m doing a post I promised y’all pretty recently – my favourite songs from the Hamilton soundtrack! Totally unrelated to Christmas, I know. But whatever 😂

Of course, I love ALL of the songs from Hamilton, and believe me, it was near impossible to narrow it down to just ten. But I’ve done my best, and now it is my honour to present you this carefully curated list… let’s begin!

10. Aaron Burr, Sir

Who doesn’t love Aaron Burr? This song is great for many reasons. It introduces one of my favourite little themes in the entire musical – the whole “Burr, sir” rhyme thing that we are constantly reminded of. Also introduces one of my favourite characters – Burr himself. Maybe he’s the villain. So what? I love him – and this song – to bits. Also, we meet Hamilton’s new besties, all of whom I am totally in love with.

9. Satisfied

This song has grown on me completely! I didn’t really have an opinion on it during my first listen, but it is such an athem now ❤ Angelica is a total boss – powerful, classy, with strong ideals and awesome wordplay. This song just clicks with me – I love the structure (music geek problems… what can I say?) and all of the clever little rhyming sections. But you also just have to sympathize – the emotion in this song is clear, and we can really feel the love triangle between Angelica, Hamilton and Eliza starting to form.

8. The Reynolds Pamphlet

Some people hate this song, but personally it is such a tune! The tension has really reached its maximum, and we start to see Hamilton’s life crumble. I love all the elements of this song that come together and have such a powerful effect – the ensemble parts, the taunts, the dramatic, slightly off-key backing, the letter read out by Jefferson at the start, just everything! This song has so many different characters and perspectives and emotions, and it’s really interesting to see it all come together in such a devastating way for Hamilton.

7. What’d I Miss?

Arguably my favourite character, Thomas Jefferson, is introduced in this song. I LOVE IT. It has such a cool vibe to it. All of Jefferson’s parts are different to anything else in the musical, and it’s so awesome to hear. This kind of ragtime, boogie-woogie, walking-bass vibe is something I LIVE FOR and I think Lin did such a good job with this song. By the way, not agreeing with anything the actual Jefferson did in real life, but you have to love this version of him. And this song.

6. You’ll Be Back

King George. That’s it, that’s the tweet. BUT THIS GUY IS INSANE. And I mean that with both definitions of the word! This song starts so innocently, but before you know it this guy is threatening you with the creepiest smile on his face. How can you not love him? I also love the variations of this song later in the musical, but this one is my favourite. Jonathan Groff is also a favourite…

5. We Know

This song is seriously underrated, and I did consider putting it higher up on the list. Absolute TUNE. On one side we have Madison, Jefferson and Burr, and on the other Hamilton, defending himself against these ruthless politicians who will stop at nothing to get the dirt on him. Gosh, I love this song. One of my favourite things is the little rhythm riff that plays throughout – so catchy, so memorable, just pure awesome. Confrontation scenes will never get old for me.

4. Cabinet Battle #2

I love both of the cabinet battles, but this one has to top it. The insults thrown are VICIOUS. Jefferson and Hamilton fighting in such a childish manner is just hilarious to me, but it’s also written in a very clever way that has you thinking throughout. Then again, it is just two fully grown men arguing over who was Lafayette’s friend first, and calling each other stupid names. WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE? The cabinet battles are both brilliant, and I definitely recommend them if you want to listen to something from the musical if you haven’t before – very hip hop, very funny.

3. The Room Where It Happens

Burr gets his time to shine in this one. But this is a work of musical genius – I think Lin has said it’s one of the best songs he’s ever written. And you can see why! This is another very textured song, but it just really stands out to me. There are, again, many perspectives, and it’s intriguing to hear each side of the story – Jefferson trying to make himself out as the good guy, Madison’s doubt, Hamilton’s bargaining, and Burr, always on the outside, feeling left out as he “waits for it”. Also, the vocals in this one are awesome! Leslie hits some strong notes at the end and it always gets me in my feels. Final point – a lot of recurring themes are in this song. You can trace back a lot of lines and melodies right to the start of the musical, and it just makes me so happy.

2. WASHINGTON on Your Side

Originally, this song didn’t stand out to me at all. But after listening to it many times and reading through the lyrics, I ACTUALLY ADORE IT. It’s so funny to see Jefferson, Madison and Burr being all annoyed at Hamilton, and there are parts of this song that are truly spectacular. The rapping is intense, and I especially love the rhyme and use of sentence structure in this song. It just all fits so well together and I can’t deal with how good it is. If you’ve not listened to this one in a while, go and get all of your anger out whilst screaming about some certain Democratic-Republicans…

1. Guns and Ships

Of course it’s Guns and Ships. BECAUSE LAFAYETTE. AND DAVEED DIGGS. Seriously, the rapping in this song is insane. I’m sorry, but nothing else competes (not even Jefferson in WOYS, sorry). Lafayette is probably everyone’s favourite character, and with good reason. One thing I like about this song is that we’ve really seen Lafayette’s character arc and transition – at the beginning of the musical, he had pretty weak English, speaking almost entirely in French. But now he is by far the most confident speaker out of everyone, proven by the unbelievable speed of this song – holding the record for the fastest song in the fastest-paced musical! 19 words in 3 seconds… incredible!!

~ Honourable Mentions ~

• Wait For It
• Ten Duel Commandments
• My Shot
• The Election of 1800
• The Story of Tonight
• The Schuyler Sisters

All of these songs are also incredible, so I thought they deserved a mention as they were so close to making the list!

You know, if I made this list again from scratch in a month or two’s time, it would probably look completely different. And that’s the fun of it! Different songs speak to me at different times. Maybe I play them because I need to hear them, or maybe my tastes just wildly change. But let’s face it – at the end of the day, every song from Hamilton is amazing. All hail Lin-Manuel Miranda!

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Let me know your favourite Hamilton song in the comments below! I KNOW – it’s impossible to pick. They’re all so good!! If it’s any easier, let me know your favourite character (maybe I’ll make a post soon ranking all of the characters…?) and we can discuss! ❤

Have a great evening! I’ll see you all tomorrow. Bye for now!

Tara x