Take A Break by Phillipa Soo Lyrics Meaning – Unraveling the Layers of Legacy and Love
Lyrics
Cinq six sept huit neuf
Good! Un deux trois quatre
Cinq six sept huit neuf
Sept huit neuf-
Sept huit neuf-
Un deux trois quatre
Cinq six sept huit neuf
Un deux trois quatre
Cinq six sept huit neuf
Sept huit neuf-
Sept huit neuf-
One two three four five six seven eight nine
My dearest, Angelica
“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day”
I trust you’ll understand the reference to
Another Scottish tragedy without my having to name the play
They think me Macbeth, and ambition is my folly
I’m a polymath, a pain in the ass, a massive pain
Madison is Banquo, Jefferson’s Macduff
And Birnam Wood is Congress on its way to Dunsinane
And there you are, an ocean away
Do you have to live an ocean away?
Thoughts of you subside
Then I get another letter
I cannot put the notion away…
Take a break
I am on my way
There’s a little surprise before supper
And it cannot wait
I’ll be there in just a minute, save my plate
Alexander-
Okay, okay-
Your son is nine years old today
And he has something that he’d like to say
He’s been practicing all day
Philip, take it away-
Daddy, daddy, look-
My name is Philip
I am a poet
I wrote this poem just
To show it
And I just turned nine
You can write rhymes
But you can’t write mine
I practice French
And play piano with my mother
I have a sister, but I want a little brother
My daddy’s trying to start America’s bank
Un deux trois quatre cinq
What
Okay
Bravo
Take a break
Hey, our kid is pretty great
Run away with us for the summer
Let’s go upstate
Eliza, I’ve got so much on my plate
We can all go stay with my father
There’s a lake I know…
I know
In a nearby park
I’d love to go
You and I can go when the night gets dark…
I will try to get away
My dearest Alexander
You must get through to Jefferson
Sit down with him and compromise
Don’t stop ’til you agree
Your fav’rite older sister
Angelica, reminds you
There’s someone in your corner all the way across the sea
In a letter I received from you two weeks ago
I noticed a comma in the middle of a phrase
It changed the meaning. Did you intend this?
One stroke and you’ve consumed my waking days
It says:
“My dearest Angelica”
With a comma after “dearest.” You’ve written
“My dearest, Angelica”
Anyway, all this to say
I’m coming home this summer
At my sister’s invitation
I’ll be there with your fam’ly
If you make your way upstate
I know you’re very busy
I know your work’s important
But I’m crossing the ocean and I just can’t wait
You won’t be an ocean away
You will only be a moment away…
Alexander, come downstairs. Angelica’s arriving today
Angelica
Eliza
The Schuyler sisters
Alexander
Hi
It’s good to see your face
Angelica, tell this man John Adams spends the summer with his family
Angelica, tell my wife John Adams doesn’t have a real job anyway
…you’re not joining us? Wait
I’m afraid I cannot join you upstate
Alexander, I came all this way
She came all this way-
All this way-
Take a break
You know I have to get my plan through Congress
Run away with us for the summer
Let’s go upstate
I lose my job if I don’t get my plan through Congress
We can all go stay with our father
There’s a lake I know
In a nearby park
You and I can go
Take a break and get away-
Let’s go upstate
Where we can stay
Look around, look around
At how lucky we are to be alive right now-
We can go-
When the night gets dark
Take a break
I know I’ll miss your face-
Screw your courage to the sticking place-
Eliza’s right-
Take a break
Run away with us for the summer-
Let’s go upstate
We can all go stay with our father
If you take your time-
You will make your mark
Close your eyes and dream-
When the night gets dark
Take a break
I have to get my plan through Congress
I can’t stop until I get this plan through Congress
In the rich tapestry of ‘Hamilton: An American Musical,’ Phillipa Soo brings to life the character of Eliza Schuyler with a voice that wraps the listener in the warmth and complexity of her persona. Soo’s rendition of ‘Take A Break’ is a melodious entreaty, a moment of domestic intimacy set against the backdrop of a revolutionary fervor. Through her delivery, the song becomes more than just a snapshot of a historical moment; it’s an exploration of the balancing act between personal sacrifice, ambition, and the yearning for connection.
Interwoven with historical references, intimate moments, and a touch of linguistic playfulness, ‘Take A Break’ delves into themes that resonate on both personal and political levels. As we dissect the song’s layered meanings, we not only discover the emotional depth of character interactions but also how these interactions reflect broader questions of devotion, legacy, and the choices that define our paths.
A Call to Slow Down: The Song’s Demand for Stillness in a Rapid World
At its core, ‘Take A Break’ is a plea for respite, a siren song attempting to lure Alexander Hamilton away from the vortex of his work. Soo’s voice reflects this longing for calm in the midst of the tempest—like Eliza, she understands the value of pause and connection, even as Hamilton, played by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also wrote the music and lyrics, becomes consumed by his relentless pursuit of purpose.
The cyclical nature of the chorus, where characters repeatedly tell Hamilton to ‘Take a break,’ underlines the incessant tug-of-war between duty and domesticity. Eliza’s request to join the family upstate is not just about leisure; it is an essential reprieve from the hamster wheel of revolution, an invitation to remember what truly matters before the moment—and the people in it—slip away.
The Tragedy of Ambition: Macbeth and Hamilton’s Foil
The invocation of Macbeth in the song’s opening alludes to a narrative steeped in ambition and foreshadowing. Hamilton’s alignment with the Shakespearean character speaks to his tragic flaw—a relentless hunger for legacy at the expense of his personal life. Soo’s character observes this ambition and mirrors it back to Hamilton through her lyrical pleadings, drawing a parallel to the dangers of unbridled desire depicted in the classic Scottish tragedy. Soo herself becomes the gentle voice of reason, warning against the blind pursuit of greatness.
Alexander’s political opponents are characterized as shadows of Macbeth’s conflicts—Madison as Banquo, Jefferson as Macduff—further weaving the thread of Hamilton’s literary counterpart through the song’s fabric. In Soo’s delivery, every reference echoes with the heavy cost of Hamilton’s ambition, which despite contributing to the nation’s foundations, hints at a personal loss that could hang over his legacy like a specter.
The Language of Love and Its Misinterpretations
The linguistic nuance highlighted through a deliberation over a comma in a letter to Angelica captures how even the smallest cues can be laden with meaning. ‘Take A Break’ hence symbolizes miscommunication in relationships, where intentions and words twist into a tangled web of confusion and yearning. Soo encapsulates this tension as Eliza wonders whether this oversight is a deliberate act, a spark that could set her heart ablaze with worry, longing, or perhaps jealousy.
Eliza’s and Angelica’s reading into the punctuation illustrates the emotional undertow that language can cast, underscoring the notion that words, in all their capacity for clarity, can also mislead and obfuscate, fracturing bonds that were thought to be secure. Soo’s intonation as she sings about the comma conveys an eerie premonition that the weight of this textual minutiae might have grander implications for the Schuyler-Hamilton bond.
A Son’s Adorable Interlude: Philip’s Precocious Performance
In a lighter vein, the song’s bridge where young Philip, played by Anthony Ramos, introduces himself with an adorable display of his growing talents, offers a contrast to the weighty themes that surround it. Soo warmly plays off this moment, fostering an atmosphere of familial pride and domestic warmth. It is a moment of joyful respite which plays to the heartstrings, serving as a reminder of what Hamilton is at risk of neglecting.
From Soo’s tender encouragement, we feel the pulse of a mother’s pride and the silence that wraps around it—an unsaid suggestion that these pure moments of connection and achievement should serve as the real trophies in one’s life. The inclusion of this moment within the song accentuates on the legacy that often goes overlooked—the nurture and shaping of future generations.
The Poignant Pull of the Unattainable Escape
‘Take A Break’ culminates in the repeated, anguished realization that the desired retreat, the escape to upstate tranquility, hangs just out of reach. Soo conveys the poignancy of this unresolved yearning with a sense of urgency, as the song builds toward a crescendo that ultimately resolves in Alexander’s refusal to step away from his work. Through this, Soo expertly displays the emotional toll each refusal takes on those who seek his company and affection.
The song’s ending, with Elizabeth’s and Angelica’s repeated siren calls to ‘take a break,’ morphs from an invitation into an almost mournful acknowledgement of their own powerlessness. Eliza and Angelica, so clearly articulated by Soo’s nuanced vocals, face the inevitable—a summer, and perhaps a lifetime, with an absent piece of their hearts. These lines in Soo’s voice, carry the emotional weight of hope deferred, embodying the heart’s struggle against the inexorable march of time and duty.
