While there are no bad Hamilton songs, there are definitely some that are better than others, and the best Hamilton songs are also the ones that pack emotional punches for the audience. Smash hit musical Hamilton reached a whole new audience thanks to the release of the recorded performance on Disney+. Created by and starring Lin Manuel Miranda, Hamilton is based on the life of the United States’ first Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton. While he’s not the most obvious subject of a hip-hop musical, Hamilton’s life story captured the imagination of Miranda after he read Ron Chernow’s 2004 biography of the founding father.
Since its premiere in February 2015, Hamilton has become a runaway success and cultural phenomenon, winning 12 Tony Awards in 2016 and opening on London’s West End in 2017, where it won seven Olivier Awards. A special recorded performance was released on Disney+ to widespread acclaim, so more newcomers than ever were able to swerve the (truly eye-watering) Broadway ticket prices and appreciate the acclaimed songs at home. This is a breakdown of the Hamilton Lin Manuel Miranda soundtrack that propelled it to such heights.
46 “Schuyler Defeated” (1:03)
Performed by: Anthony Ramos as Philip Hamilton, Philippa Soo as Eliza Hamilton, Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, and Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr.
Best line: “They don’t need to know me/They don’t like you.”
Ranked the lowest of the best Hamilton songs by virtue of being short and more of a transition than anything else, “Schuyler Defeated” marks the moment when Alexander Hamilton discovers that his old friend Aaron Burr is tired of waiting. Unfortunately for the Hamilton family, Burr’s first big move is to upset the Senate seat of Eliza’s father, Philip Schuyler. When the stage show is full of more songs than speaking moments, even the smallest bits of dialogue are songs, but they don’t necessarily pop the way some of the longer performances do.
45 “The Story Of Tonight (Reprise)” (1:55)
Performed by: Anthony Ramos as John Laurens, Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan, Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette, Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, and Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr
Best line: “You are the worst, Burr.”
Sandwiched between “Satisfied” and “Wait For It,” this reprise of “The Story of Tonight” is an important moment that allows the audience to slow down and absorb the impact of Angelica Schuyler’s revelation. This one of the Hamilton songs is mainly made up of drunken banter between friends but is nonetheless an enjoyable little segue with a heartfelt moment between Hamilton and Burr that doesn’t exactly occur much throughout the show.
Hamilton and Burr spend so much of the story at one another’s throats, that seeing them banter and have fun together is completely different from the rest of the show. The music is also less intense than the rest of the show, and as lovely as it is, not one that sits with fans as long as other Hamilton songs do.
44 “Aaron Burr, Sir” (2:36)
Performed by: Anthony Ramos as John Laurens, Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan, Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette, Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, and Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr
Best line: “If you stand for nothing, Burr, what’ll you fall for?”
Miranda’s love of wordplay is on display early in the second one of the Hamilton songs, “Aaron Burr, Sir,” in which the eponymous antagonist’s name is echoed in the line, “You punched the bursar.” Burr responds to Hamilton’s over-eagerness by inviting him to meet the likable John Laurens, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Hercules Mulligan — but Hamilton doesn’t exactly learn the lesson Burr had hoped for, which is to keep his head down and not run his mouth or risk making enemies. This is the first real taste of the rap battles in the musical as well, though the further the story progresses, the more inventive the wordplay gets.
43 “Stay Alive” (2:39)
Performed by: The Full Cast Of Hamilton
Best line: “I’m a general! Whee!”
One of the more exposition-heavy Hamilton songs, “Stay Alive” finds Hamilton in a frustrating spot as George Washington refuses to give him a command in the war, instead relegating him largely to letter-writing duties, a job Hamilton despises. A highlight is the chaos when Jon Rua’s Charles Lee “s**ts the bed at the Battle of Monmouth,” and his ensuing volley of insults hurled at Washington.
While it’s a nice showcase for the variety of voices in the show since most of the principal cast members get at least a line or two, it’s also a lot of information for the audience to keep track of all at once. When the songs leading up to it are faster-paced, it means the audience is largely getting through this particular track to see what happens next.
42 “A Winter’s Ball” (1:09)
Performed by: Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr
Best line: “Hey. Hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.”
One of the shortest Hamilton songs is also one of the most amusing. The somewhat gross lyrics are lightened by the comedy of Hamilton and his friends swaggering into the ball full of over-confidence about their talent with the ladies, as well as Hamilton’s proud acknowledgment of the fact that he had a feral tomcat named after him. The song itself is a transitional one, in place to get the audience to the next step of the story, so it’s fun, but not a number meant to blow the audience away.
41 “Meet Me Inside” (1:23)
Performed by: Anthony Ramos as John Laurens, Christopher Jackson as George Washington, Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, and Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr
Best line: “Call me ‘son’ one more time.”
Hamilton’s resentment at sitting on the writing bench throughout the war boils over in this one of Hamilton songs: a tense argument between Hamilton and Washington in the wake of the Charles Lee/John Laurens duel. With its pulsing beat and very measured dialogue, this Hamilton song is an exercise in escalating tempers until finally Hamilton levels a veiled threat at his commander, and is not the last disagreement that the two of them have in the show.
40 “That Would Be Enough” (2:58)
Performed by: Philippa Soo as Eliza Hamilton and Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton
Best line: “Let this moment be the first chapter/Where you decide to stay.”
Though it might seem like just one of the sweet and romantic Hamilton songs to bring things down after the heat of “Meet Me Inside,” “That Would Be Enough” actually features just as much tension despite its softer notes. The vocals are primarily Eliza’s, giving a sweetness to the tone of the song even though the tension is thick. In this case, it’s the tension between Alexander’s determination to build a legacy and Eliza wanting him to appreciate his life while he’s still living it. She wants him to stay, but he’s too concerned with the future, which pretty much permeates the entirety of Hamilton.
39 “I Know Him” (1:37)
Performed by: Jonathan Groff as King George III
Best line: “There’s nobody else in their ‘country’ who looms quite as large.”
In King George III’s final interlude, he marvels at the idea of a leader voluntarily stepping down from their position of power. While “I Know Him” is definitely one of the more enjoyable Hamilton songs, what follows is even better — King George watching the ensuing American in-fighting with glee and even making a comeback to gloat once more during “The Reynolds Pamphlet.” The scene-stealing King George III is nothing if not petty.
38 “Farmer Refuted” (1:52)
Performed by: Thayne Jasperson as Samuel Seabury and Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton
Best line: “But strangely your mange is the same!”
Poor Samuel Seabury just wants to stand up on his soapbox and make a speech in support of the king, but runs into Alexander Hamilton’s inability to let anything go. This is one of the shorter Hamilton songs, but a fun one that’s only enhanced by the physical comedy of Hamilton harassing the Loyalist until Burr steps in to intervene. It’s fairly early in the show, and it shows a great juxtaposition between the classical musical stylings of the Loyalists who are stuck in the past and the hip-hop of the revolutionaries as Hamilton’s lines are rapped alongside Seabury’s classic lines.
37 “The Story Of Tonight” (1:31)
Performed by: Anthony Ramos as John Laurens, Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan, Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette, Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, and Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr
Best line: “Raise a glass to the four of us/Tomorrow there’ll be more of us.”
After the revelry of “My Shot” comes a much-needed wind-down in “The Story of Tonight.” While the preceding on the list of Hamilton songs might make the revolutionaries’ wishes seem trivial – from wanting to make a name for themselves, to simply not wanting to sew pants anymore – “The Story of Tonight” is a reassurance that they really do believe in what they’re fighting for. “Tomorrow there’ll be more of us” is also one of the most quoted lines (or partial lines, more accurately) from the show as it’s a call to action and a reminder that even the biggest revolution starts with the smallest group.
36 “Stay Alive (Reprise)” (1:51)
Performed by: Philippa Soo as Eliza Hamilton, Anthony Ramos as Philip Hamilton, and Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton
Best line: “Sept, huit, neuf…”
This is where Act II of Hamilton gets heartbreaking. Alexander and Eliza Hamilton’s frantic rush to their son on his deathbed, in a reprisal of one of the Hamilton songs that marked Alexander’s own brush with death earlier in the show. The most heartbreaking moment comes towards the end, as Eliza practices counting in French with her son until she realizes that she’s the only one still counting. While Soo, Ramos, and Miranda might have most of the lines in the song and the story here, the rest of the cast helps to make the song a little more haunting with their echoes of the titular line, and the steady beat of the drum creates the tension.
35 “Take A Break” (4:46)
Performed by: Philippa Soo as Eliza Hamilton, Anthony Ramos as Philip Hamilton, Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, and Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler
Best line: “Angelica, tell my wife John Adams doesn’t have a real job anyway.”
If Hamilton Act II is the “fall” part of Alexander Hamilton’s rise-and-fall story, then “Take A Break” marks the tipping point right before that fall. With the threat of losing his job hanging over his head in this one of Hamilton songs, Hamilton pulls away from his wife, his son, and his sister-in-law — choosing the pursuit of his legacy even over the people he’s ostensibly pursuing it for, throwing himself into his work above all else.
It features Ramos as the youngest Hamilton starting his journey into wordplay like his father and Soo beatboxing for him, which makes the song incredibly fun. The song also echoes earlier Hamilton songs as Angelica ad Alexander write to one another, reminding the audience of their connection.
34 “History Has Its Eyes On You” (1:37)
Performed by: Christopher Jackson as George Washington and Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton
Best line: “You have no control/Who lives, who dies, who tells your story.”
This one of the Hamilton songs in the calm before the storm of the Hamilton musical’s Yorktown and serves as a warning from the older general to his upstart young right-hand man: that despite his wishes, he won’t get to control his own legacy, which is in the hands of people who look back on someone’s life. It’s particularly poignant in light of its return in Hamilton‘s final song, where it’s revealed that Eliza – the very person who told Alexander “we don’t need a legacy” — is the one who tells his story.
It’s also one of the most traditionally Broadway-styled songs on the part of Washington in the entire show as he tries to get through to Hamilton, but of course, Hamilton’s style is already faster and more modern than Hamilton at this point in the show.
33 “Say No To This” (4:02)
Performed by: Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr, Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, Jasmine Cephas-Jones as Maria Reynolds, and Sydney Harcourt as James Reynolds
Best line: “Uh-oh, you made the wrong sucker a cuckold.”
More than any other of the Hamilton songs, “Say No To This” has the distinct ring of an unreliable narrator, starting with Aaron Burr’s framing of “Alexander’s by himself, I’ll let him tell it.” According to the cheating Alexander Hamilton’s lewd version of the story, he was tired and helpless when a beautiful woman took advantage of his philanthropy to lure him to her bed with her feminine wiles.
Much like “The Room Where It Happens” and “Burn,” this song acknowledges a gap in our historical knowledge — and exercises appropriate skepticism towards Hamilton’s take on what happened and his treatment of said woman in the song. This Hamilton song fuses elements of traditional Broadway with R&B and Pop to provide the audience with a full story.
32 “Election Of 1800” (3:57)
Performed by: Daveed Diggs as Thomas Jefferson, Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan, Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr, and Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton
Best line: “And they say I’m a Francophile/At least they know I know where France is.”
The best moments of “Election of 1800” aren’t in this one of the Hamilton songs itself, but in Aaron Burr’s ecstatic reactions as he listens to the people declaring him to be “approachable” and musing that they’d like to share a beer with him. For one brief moment in the show, things actually seem to be going Burr’s way. Of course, it doesn’t last long, but he’s so thrilled about it that it’s one of the highlights as he attempts to make his own legacy instead of waiting for it. The song itself combines traditional Broadway chorus stylings with the hip-hop of the leads to make an interesting fusion.
31 “Best Of Wives And Best Of Women” (0:47)
Performed by: Philippa Soo as Eliza Hamilton and Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton
Best line: “Best of wives and best of women.”
The shortest of the Hamilton songs is also one of the most touching, as Alexander says his final farewell to his wife (though she doesn’t know it). It’s here that the importance of “Ten Duel Commandments” comes into play, as thanks to that song everyone in the audience will know exactly what it is that Alexander is writing before he leaves. What’s really great about the brief snippet of music is that Eliza’s lines all echo earlier lines she’s had in the play. It might be short, but this is one Hamilton song that knows exactly how to remind the audience of everything that has preceded it.
30 “Cabinet Battle #2” (2:22)
Performed by: Christopher Jackson as George Washington, Daveed Diggs as Thomas Jefferson, Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, and Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan
Best line: “Should we honor our treaty, King Louis’s head?/’Uh, do whatever you want, I’m super dead.'”
One of the great strokes of genius in Hamilton is reimagining cabinet meetings on rather dry topics as vicious rap battles between the founding fathers. In this one of the Hamilton songs, Jefferson finds himself on the back foot while asking for American intervention in the French Revolution, and Hamilton goes to his usual excesses while arguing against it despite the help of France against the British. When listening to the rhyming schemes of their rap battle, it’s easier to notice that Hamilton has the upper hand as his rhymes are more complex than Jefferson’s.
29 “The Adams Administration” (0:54)
Performed by: The cast of Hamilton
Best line: “As long as he can hold a pen, he’s a threat.”
Things get chaotic in this particular Hamilton song, in which King George III watches (and dances) with glee. Though he’s brought up more than once as a punchline and even gets a track named after him, John Adams never actually appears on stage in Hamilton — which in itself is another kind of dig against him. The music here echoes the opening song of the show, demonstrating that this is like an introduction to both John Adams (despite his absence from the stage) and a new chapter in Hamilton’s life.
28 “We Know” (2:22)
Performed by: Daveed Diggs as Thomas Jefferson, Lin Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton, and Okieriete Onaodowan as James Madison, and Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr
Best line: “As you can see I kept a record/Of every check in my checkered history.”
Madison, Jefferson and Burr’s election of 1800 attempt to confront Hamilton in order to discredit him works, though not quite in the way they intended. This particular installment in the Hamilton songs ranked list marks a point where Hamilton has a choice between protecting his personal pride and saving his family from pain, and he chooses the former — not for the last time. The lyrics here are less rapid-fire than most, despite the steady beat of the song, until Hamilton confesses that is. It’s then that Miranda speeds up Hamilton’s speech significantly as a sign of Hamilton’s conviction and desperation, just as he does during cabinet battles.
27 “Guns And Ships” (2:07)
Performed by: Christopher Jackson as George Washington, Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr, and Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette
Best line: “Sir, he knows what to do in a trench/ingenuitive and fluent in French.”
Everyone’s favorite fighting’ Frenchman delivers an impassioned argument for Hamilton’s return to the war, with Daveed Diggs deftly juggling a French accent and a mile-a-minute rap – not to mention jumping off the table in the middle of it. It’s Diggs’ last big hurrah as Lafayette before he switches roles in Hamilton’s Act II, and this one of the Hamilton songs features a memorable last solo for the character. It’s one of Diggs’ best Hamilton songs. While his performance as Thomas Jefferson is often remembered more, this song is an impressive showing of his abilities as Diggs raps incredibly rapidly.