Tuesday, August 30, 2016

The Story of Tonight: Is it Actually Better Tonight?

When I first started listening to this musical, I was angry. Only four songs in and they've already ripped off a song; or so I thought. BUT, it turns out that the up and coming band, We The Kings, actually borrowed their new hit single "The Story of Tonight" from Hamilton the musical.
 
 
Still after 3 weeks of contemplating, I find it very cool that a modern song that was made for a musical could become popular today. However, it became much more evident as I listened to more and more of the soundtrack why it became popular. I discovered a whole world of wonderful music that, though its topics take place in the late 1700s to early 1800s, is still highly relateable today.

In the version sang in Hamilton, they sing about the beginning of the Revolutionary war and the guys celebrate one last night of freedom before an era of war and hardships. The We the Kings' take on this song is the exact same song, but has a totally different meaning in modern society. In today's society, this song can be seen as having more of a focus on having a fun night out with your friends and/or being remembered as an all around fun person.

I personally enjoyed the Hamilton version after several listens of both songs. Not only are the vocals better, but the overall message comes off a little better. The message is more evident and makes more sense in regards to what was happening in 1776 vs. today in 2016.

I did find that, overall, the more modern take on the song by We the Kings was well received. In fact, the song has 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon Music.


The question that I want you to answer: Which group do you think does the song more justice? And, which time period does the time period make the most sense in?
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4 comments:

  1. Kaelin BemisSeptember 7, 2016 at 8:11 AM

    I love that you found a modern band that sings a song from Hamilton! I agree with you though, I think the song sung for Hamilton makes more sense, because there's actually a reason behind it, not just a night out with friends.

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  2. SaraSeptember 7, 2016 at 9:52 AM

    I'm not sure you're aware of this, but they're working on a Hamilton Mixtape that might be of interest to you: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/03/questlove-lin-manuel-miranda-the-hamilton-mixtape.

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  3. Moe'ConnellSeptember 12, 2016 at 12:38 PM

    I think that the original of this song was amazing the way it is. When i first heard the We The Kings version, i was really upset. How could they take something that Lin Manuel Miranda worked so hard on and just copy it like that. I also think it fits better with the original, because it's about the night that Hamilton met his friends and they talked about the war that was going to happen. The modern version just seems like it is about a night out with your friends. I like your thoughts on this, Morgan Thanks for sharing!!

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  4. Lauren CarlsonOctober 12, 2016 at 3:18 PM

    I can 100% agree that I was not to thrilled to hear that we would be listening to a musical in class. I have just never been the person to enjoy soundtracks to them. However, over time it grew on me and I now enjoy these songs very much. I havent heard the remix by we three kings but i am interested into listening to it now.

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