Lab 2 Discussion
Aaron Burr’s ‘Wait for it’ stages the rivalry between Burr and Hamilton. Burr sings the song after the comparison of his success to that of Hamilton. He contemplates the enormous efforts he has hard to put in life, yet his achievements are in no way comparable to that of Hamilton. Through the stanza, “What is it like to be in his shoes”, we learn of his inevitable envy towards Hamilton. Furthermore, Burr’s duty to protect the legacy of his parents has always posed as a restriction to what he does, he had no freedom to risk as much as his ambitious rival did. His father, for instance, was one of the founders of Princeton, a very big shoe for Burr to fit. Hamilton, on the other hand, had nothing to lose, he built everything from scratch while Burr had to learn how to stay at the top. He makes this evident when he says, “Hamilton doesn’t hesitate, he exhibits no restraint”. In the same line of thought, Alexander is ahead of Burr relationship-wise since he is married to one of the Schuyler sisters, Eliza. Contrarily, Burr is in love with a married woman he cannot marry, because she is already wedded, and this is even made worse with the fact that her husband is a British militant, the type of people they were fighting in the Continental War. “Wait for it” is therefore an assurance to Burr that his time will also come, the “it” being the pay for all his hard work.
The song portrays Burr as a cautious man, it explains why he most often keeps to himself and only speaks when he feels necessary. The need to keep the hard-earned legacy of his predecessors drives his ambition and is the main reason why he is willing to wait for his time to shine. This responsibility also snatches his will to be unmindful and loquacious as Hamilton. When he meets Hamilton he tells him that people are always watching, of which Hamilton does not understand because of his different background. He goes on to stipulate his future aspirations in his song, “My Shot”. The song consequently reinforces the fundamental differences between Burr and Hamilton, Burr being cautionary and Hamilton’s reactionary.