It's Quiet Uptown by jomel77

jomel77 - It's Quiet Uptown

jomel77

Jun 22, 2024 11:01pm

"It's Quiet Uptown" is the eighteenth song from Act 2 of the musical <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_(musical)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hamilton</a>, based on the life of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alexander Hamilton</a>, which premiered on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_theatre" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Broadway</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2015</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-bway-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lin-Manuel_Miranda" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lin-Manuel Miranda</a> wrote both the music and lyrics to the song.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-bway-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a> The song takes place in the second act of the musical, as the characters <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alexander Hamilton</a> and his wife <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Schuyler_Hamilton" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Eliza</a> grieve over <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Hamilton" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">their son's</a> death.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Lacamoire" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alex Lacamoire</a>, Hamilton's musical director said the show's best use of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_section" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">strings</a> is "probably 'It's Quiet Uptown,' when there's nothing else playing except those two guys. The lyrics 'It's quiet uptown'—you're not getting quieter than two strings playing gently."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[2]</a>The song describes Alexander Hamilton and his wife Eliza's grief as they try to accept <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Hamilton" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">their son Philip's</a> death. This "hushed instrumental" sees them "reflect on everything that has happened over the course of their lives together." As Hamilton and Eliza silently walk the streets of the city at night, passersby look on them with pity and say that the two are "going through the unimaginable." Through their grieving, Alexander begs for forgiveness for what he has done to Eliza (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton%E2%80%93Reynolds_affair" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">his affair with Maria Reynolds</a>) so he can help her through Philip's death, to which she silently agrees as they begin to mend their relationship. The song is narrated by Eliza's sister, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelica_Schuyler_Church" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Angelica</a>, and the chorus.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[3]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Huffington_Post" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Huffington Post</a> offers an explanation to the vague nondescript language used throughout the song: "Our guide, our word-playing, rhyming, subtle, subtextual, double-meaning beacon of logic and reason is utterly unable to comprehend the death of his son, rendered speechless. By telling us that he can't tell us about it, Miranda shows us Hamilton's despair."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[4]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> likened the song to "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Notorious_B.I.G." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Biggie</a>'s '<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicidal_Thoughts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Suicidal Thoughts</a>,' still one of the most chilling hip-hop songs of all time", as they both "confront [their] own mortality...end[ing] up exhausted, frayed, desperate."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[5]</a> Varsity suggests the song is influenced by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_O%27Keefe_(composer)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Laurence O'Keefe</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[6]</a>The song has received critical acclaim.New York Theatre Guide wrote that the song "literally left me a tear-stained wreck of a human being."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[7]</a> Entertainment Weekly said the song "[isn't] afraid to slow the story down for moments of hushed sincerity."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[8]</a> Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times said "No contemporary musical has touched grief in a song as profoundly as 'It's Quiet Uptown,' which I'll confess is impossible for me to listen to without tearing up."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[9]</a> Entertainment Monthly said the song is "one of Miranda's most poetic numbers."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-10" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[10]</a> Patheos says the song is "tear-jerking because of the way...it takes a death to bring [Eliza and Hamilton] together" after his infidelity.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-11" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[11]</a> TheatreMania said the "tearjerker" is "devastatingly beautiful."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-12" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[12]</a> The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the "exquisite [song] resonates with such raw, wrenching feeling it elicits sobs from the audience."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-13" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[13]</a> Record Collector News noted the song "slows the pace to capture Hamilton's grief over a loss", describing it as "one of the saddest songs ever heard since <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jacques Brel</a>'s 'The Desperate Ones.'"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-14" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[14]</a> Hannah McFadden from Yakima Herald said the song "always leaves me a sniveling and pathetic mess."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-15" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[15]</a> Papyrus wrote "I have listened to the full album around twenty times now...and I have not been able to listen to this full song without crying."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-16" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[16]</a> Noisey said the song is "agonized" and "atypically melodic."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-17" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[17]</a> Library Journal explained that the song is "guaranteed to make me cry just thinking about it."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Quiet_Uptown#cite_note-18" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[18]</a>