It's Quiet Uptown
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"It's Quiet Uptown" is the eighteenth song from Act 2 of the musical ''
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...
'', based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, which premiered on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in 2015. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote both the music and lyrics to the song. The song takes place in the second act of the musical, as the characters Alexander Hamilton and his wife
Eliza ELIZA is an early natural language processing computer program created from 1964 to 1966 at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory by Joseph Weizenbaum. Created to demonstrate the superficiality of communication between humans and machines, ...
grieve over their son's death.


Background

Alex Lacamoire Alex Lacamoire (born May 24, 1975) is a Cuban-American composer, arranger, conductor, musical director, music copyist, and orchestrator who has worked on many shows both on and off-Broadway. He is the recipient of multiple Tony and Grammy Aw ...
, ''Hamilton''s musical director said the show's best use of strings 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."


Synopsis

The song describes Alexander Hamilton and his wife Eliza's grief as they try to accept their son Philip's 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 ( his affair with Maria Reynolds) 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, Angelica, and the chorus.


Analysis

''
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'' 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." ''
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'' likened the song to "
Biggie Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...
's ' Suicidal Thoughts,' still one of the most chilling hip-hop songs of all time", as they both "confront heirown mortality...end ngup exhausted, frayed, desperate." ''Varsity'' suggests the song is influenced by Laurence O'Keefe.


Critical reception

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." ''Entertainment Weekly'' said the song " sn'tafraid to slow the story down for moments of hushed sincerity." 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." ''Entertainment Monthly'' said the song is "one of Miranda's most poetic numbers." Patheos says the song is "tear-jerking because of the way...it takes a death to bring liza and Hamiltontogether" after his infidelity. TheatreMania said the "tearjerker" is "devastatingly beautiful." ''The Hollywood Reporter'' wrote that the "exquisite
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resonates with such raw, wrenching feeling it elicits sobs from the audience." 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 Jacques Brel's 'The Desperate Ones.'" Hannah McFadden from ''Yakima Herald'' said the song "always leaves me a sniveling and pathetic mess." 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." Noisey said the song is "agonized" and "atypically melodic." Library Journal explained that the song is "guaranteed to make me cry just thinking about it."


Mixtape version

Released on November 3, 2016, alongside "My Shot", American singer
Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...
released a mixtape version of "It's Quiet Uptown" as a promotional single from the mixtape album '' The Hamilton Mixtape'' (2016). Clarkson's version peaked at number 30 on the Adult Pop Songs chart. In 2009,
Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker. He is known for creating the Broadway musicals ''Hamilton'' (2015) and '' In the Heights'' (2005), and the soundtracks for the Disney animat ...
began a project entitled ''The Hamilton Mixtape'' that would eventually transform into the 2015 Broadway musical ''
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...
''.Viagas, Robert
"Beach Read to Broadway! How Lin-Manuel Miranda Turned a History Book into 'Hamilton'"
Playbill, August 5, 2015
During the development of the musical production, Miranda frequently communicated that a "mixtape" of select songs from the show's score was being recorded. Clarkson performed the song live on several occasions. Clarkson's first public performance of the song happened on ''
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'' on December 5, 2016. She performed an acoustic version of the song at the Honda Stage at iHeartRadio NY on December 13, 2016. The same day she sang the song as a duet with finalist
Billy Gilman William Wendell Gilman III (born May 24, 1988) is an American singer. Starting as a young country artist, he is known for his debut single " One Voice", a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and a top 20 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country ...
on season 11 of ''
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''. On December 31, 2016, she performed the song on the New Year's Special of '' Late Night with Seth Meyers''. She also performed the song in the encore set during her 2019
Meaning of Life Tour The Meaning of Life Tour was the eighth headlining concert tour from American pop singer Kelly Clarkson. Her first tour in three and a half years, it supported her eighth studio album ''Meaning of Life (album), Meaning of Life'' (2017). The tour ...
.


Charts


References

{{authority control 2015 songs Songs from Hamilton (musical) Kelly Clarkson songs Songs about death Songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda Works about child death