SHOT
World Gone Upside Down is an old English march. Legend has it that the Redcoats played that song as they surrendered the Revolutionary War at Yorktown. A song by the same name represents the same period in history in the Broadway show Hamilton. The world gone upside down is an apt description for 2020. An out of control pandemic, the murder of George Floyd churning up issues of racism, and for good measure murder hornets. With the summer heat and surging numbers of Covid 19 virus cases a wall of moms and leaf blower dads join the growing number of protesters in civil unrest.
It’s a lot to unpack. After my daughter and I watched the taped version of Broadway’s Hamilton, we sat down and watched it again with my grandchildren, ages 9, 7, and 5. Thank you Disney Plus for this production because I couldn’t afford tickets for all of us. We are a theater family so the kids bought in straight away. Immediately following Eliza’s gasp, the kids had assigned Halloween costumes. Our Benjamin, who wants to change his name to Alexander Hamilton. He will be adorable in the Revolutionary blue cutaways as Hamilton. The name change won’t be happening.
Benjamin had lots questions about the play. Why did Burr shoot Hamilton? I tried to explain as we stood by the monument in Weehawken near the site of the fatal duel. Looking across the Hudson River, even a five-year-old can’t imagine that a person wouldn’t come to their senses after rowing a boat for two hours across the river in those strong currents.
History, even well written history, has a way of homogenizing events. A duel is often portrayed as an honorable action rather than a glamourized version of a deadly, bloody shooting. The late Congressman and activist John Lewis was a reminder that civil rights weren’t won through peaceful marches and Martin Luther King conveying his dream on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. People were verbally abused and beat up for sitting at a lunch counter. Law enforcement wielded night sticks wrapped with barbed wire on protesters dressed in their Sunday best on Bloody Sunday. John Lewis suffered a fractured skull leading that peaceful march across the bridge to Selma so that people could register to vote.
I can’t explain to a kid what I don’t understand myself. We looked across the Hudson, history lesson over, the five-year-old is swinging on the fence and counting the sailboats on the river.
Then his five year old mind emerged. Benjamin wanted to change the words of the song Shot: “I’m not throwing away my shot. I’m just like my country, I’m young, scrappy and hungry.” Nooo! I’m a proud card-carrying member of the Dramatist Guild, the sign over my desk states Don’t Change the Words.
Being hungry was not good, Benjamin didn’t want to sing that even though many evenings he would be content to sit in front of his dinner until breakfast the next morning.
Although he loved the rap, he didn’t understand any of it. Hyperbole isn’t a strength of the Pre-K curriculum. Word by word we discussed the refrain: Young like his country was the easy part. Hunger as ambition; scrappy as determined and shot not as a bullet from a gun but as an opportunity to make your own. He really wanted to understand and we went over and over it for the next couple of days. His brown eyes, the color of a perfect piece of toast, seemed relieved that shot had another meaning. And so am I.
In that song, Hamilton makes a bold statement that he would not wait to achieve his dreams. How many people heard his announcement? Today that kind of bold statement would happen online, especially during a pandemic. It takes more than as the song says being young, scrappy and hungry to make an impact but it’s not a bad start.
Historical figures or even some of today leaders in any field often lay the groundwork early on to shape their lives into one that we, general public come to know. The overnight success story is mostly fable. John Lewis started at a young age and made many choices, and a lot of good trouble, to become the modern legend, that the world will sorely miss.
The World Turned Upside Down is an almost soothing song in Hamilton but still haunting. For me, I agree with Hamilton, no one should throw away or even wait for their shot. Throughout my life I’ve grabbed my fair share of brass rings, and never regretted it. The year 2020 seems to be shaping up as a year of despair but I am still hopeful. There have been so many examples of people reaching out to brighten some one’s day, the 7pm clap outs, the community fridges, the birthday drive-by parades, complete with firetrucks. I want Benjamin to recognize all kinds of opportunities that come his way.
While my Benjamin does not yet read, he is curious about story, about history, and he has figured out that words matter. All of these are strong qualities. I want him to grow to be “scrappy and hungry.” I agree with John Lewis there will be plenty of opportunities: “to make some noise and get in good trouble.”