Hamilton’s Duel With Burr Was The Hardest Song For Lin-Manuel Miranda To Write

“The World Was Wide Enough,” the penultimate song in Hamilton and the last appearance of the titular character before the finale, was the hardest song for creator Lin-Manuel Miranda to write. Hamilton, the musical centering on one of America’s Founding Fathers, has become a bona fide cultural phenomenon since its debut on Broadway in 2015. The musical won 11 Tony Awards at the 2016 ceremony and became one of the only musicals to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Before theaters were forced to close due to COVID-19, the musical was one of the hottest tickets in not only New York, but Chicago, London, and on tour.

Hamilton has been subject to renewed interest since a filmed version of the Broadway musical premiered on Disney+ July 3. While Hamilton the movie was originally scheduled for a full theatrical release in October of 2021, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic prompted Disney to release the movie on their new streaming service in time for Independence Day 2020. Like the musical, the movie received positive reviews and allowed fans both new and old the opportunity to witness the musical sensation. Now, a behind-the-scenes documentary released in conjunction with the film is giving fans a look at how the hit show was made.

According to the making-of doc, Hamilton: History Has Its Eyes On You, composer Lin-Manuel Miranda revealed that the penultimate song in the musical was the most difficult for him to write. “The World Was Wide Enough” depicts Alexander Hamilton’s infamous duel with Aaron Burr and his final thoughts before being fatally wounded by Burr’s bullet. Miranda says in the documentary, “I kept writing songs for the moment and all the songs felt wrong. And then I woke up New Year’s Day 2015 and my son, who was about a month and a half old, was asleep on my chest. My dog was asleep between my legs, and my wife was asleep next to me. And it was quiet, and I realized ‘Oh, quiet. I haven’t used quiet for the whole two hours and thirty minutes of this show. That’s the one move left.'” Miranda also revealed that he only wrote the song a few days before the first audience saw the show, and described the challenge of writing it as “a real imaginative leap.” 

While Hamilton’s score is certainly a large part of the musical’s success, the massive triumph of the show is due to all elements of the show firing on all cylinders. Apart from Miranda’s Tony-winning score, the musical and the movie both feature winning performances from Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, and Renée Elise Goldsberry, as well as acclaimed turns as Hamilton’s wife Eliza and George Washington from Philippa Soo and Christopher Jackson, respectively. Like the musical, the Hamilton movie was directed by Thomas Kail, who also won a Tony Award for his direction of the original Broadway production.

In the case of “The World Was Wide Enough,” the moment Hamilton and Burr finally duel is what the whole show is leading towards. Had the song Miranda written for the scene not been absolutely perfect, the show’s ending may not have landed with the same impact it now does. There are, of course, many great songs in Hamilton, but the importance of “The World Was Wide Enough” in the show’s narrative cannot be overstated. It’s a defining song not just for the character of Hamilton, but the whole musical – cementing Burr a villain and Hamilton a martyr.

Given how emotionally and musically complex the entire score of Hamilton is, it may be surprising that “The World Was Wide Enough” was the most difficult song for Miranda to write. But it is also refreshing to know that even someone as successful as Miranda can struggle sometimes. Miranda’s willingness to write and rewrite songs until he felt the show was perfect is undoubtedly part of what made Hamilton such a phenomenon. It is not often that the entire world tunes into a musical with such enthusiasm, and with Broadway closed until at least 2021, the most casual and dedicated fans alike can rejoice that a musical so thoughtfully composed is so accessible.

Source: Hamilton: History Has Its Eyes On You

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