It's Quiet Uptown

So last night, Hamilton did very well at the Tony’s.  I’m sure that we’ve all heard parts of it or heard something about it.  I didn’t really jump headfirst into it until I downloaded the Original Broadway Cast recording this weekend … and started listening to it today.

I’m not going to spoil the show for you but a little over 10 minutes ago I heard “It’s Quiet Uptown” for the first time.  And I heard it a short while after I got approval to take a half-day from work to attend the funeral of two victims of the Kalamazoo biking tragedy.

Once again, the iPod is timely with the songs it plays. It knows how to kick me right in the heart, but in a kind way. It finds a way to put into song the pain and sorrow and to help express it so I don’t dwell on it.

So … again, without spoiling the show, I give you the lyrics to “It’s Quiet Uptown.” It comes at a point in the musical after the death of Hamilton’s son, Philip.

[ANGELICA]
There are moments that the words don’t reach
There is suffering too terrible to name
You hold your child as tight as you can
And push away the unimaginable
The moments when you’re in so deep
It feels easier to just swim down

[ANGELICA/ENSEMBLE]
The Hamiltons move uptown
And learn to live with the unimaginable

[HAMILTON]
I spend hours in the garden
I walk alone to the store
And it’s quiet uptown
I never liked the quiet before
I take the children to church on Sunday
A sign of the cross at the door
And I pray
That never used to happen before

[ANGELICA AND WOMEN]
If you see him in the street, walking by
Himself, talking to himself, have pity

[HAMILTON]
Philip, you would like it uptown
It’s quiet uptown

[ANGELICA AND WOMEN]
He is working through the unimaginable

[ALL MEN (EXCEPT HAMILTON)]
His hair has gone grey. He passes every day
They say he walks the length of the city

[HAMILTON]
You knock me out, I fall apart

[COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON AND ELIZA)]
Can you imagine?

[HAMILTON]
Look at where we are
Look at where we started
I know I don’t deserve you, Eliza
But hear me out. That would be enough

If I could spare his life
If I could trade his life for mine
He’d be standing here right now
And you would smile, and that would be enough
I don’t pretend to know
The challenges we’re facing
I know there’s no replacing what we’ve lost
And you need time
But I’m not afraid
I know who I married
Just let me stay here by your side
That would be enough

[COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON AND ELIZA)]
If you see him in the street, walking by her
Side, talking by her side, have pity

[HAMILTON]
Eliza, do you like it uptown? It’s quiet uptown

[COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON AND ELIZA)]
He is trying to do the unimaginable
See them walking in the park, long after dark
Taking in the sights of the city

[HAMILTON]
Look around, look around, Eliza

[COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON AND ELIZA)]
They are trying to do the unimaginable

[ANGELICA]
There are moments that the words don’t reach
There is a grace too powerful to name
We push away what we can never understand
We push away the unimaginable
They are standing in the garden
Alexander by Eliza’s side
She takes his hand

[ELIZA]
It’s quiet uptown

[COMPANY (EXCEPT HAMILTON AND ELIZA)]
Forgiveness. Can you imagine?
Forgiveness. Can you imagine?
If you see him in the street, walking by her
Side, talking by her side, have pity
They are going through the unimaginable

Goodbye Tony.  Goodbye Larry.

Goodbye Doreen.  Goodbye Melissa

It is unimaginable.