Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story

"Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story" (aka "Who Tells Your Story?") is the finale of the 2015 Broadway musical Hamilton, composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Synopsis

After the death of Alexander Hamilton, the entire cast comes together to explain what happens to all the remaining characters in the following years. The concept of legacy is explored as characters wonder if they have done enough in their lifetime to be cemented in the history books.

Vibe explains that "Eliza Hamilton steers the song as she reflects on her life, her marriage to Hamilton and their legacy, which includes the opening of New York City’s first private orphanage".

Analysis

The Atlantic notes that Hamiton isn't remembered as fondly as other Founding Fathers; one character sings “Every other Founding Father story gets told. Every other Founding Father gets to grow old". The site also mentions that at the time his political rival Thomas Jefferson was having a relationship with his slave which would have been the bigger scandal at the time.

The entire musical Hamilton sings about not wanting to throw away his shot and be placed firmly in the history books. Yet in his final moment, he decides to throw away his shot. The final songs speaks of his legacy that is in the end out of his control. The worth of a human being is decided after their death by people and events they have no agency over. So despite Hamilton's best efforts to be remembered for certain things, history will see it a different way.

Critical reception

The Village Voice argues that this song's refrain "suggest[s] that we might look differently at the Founding Fathers and their ideas of freedom and equality, depending on who's depicting them". NewYorkCityTheatre wrote that "Eliza Hamilton sums up the story and leads the company to a moving finale, when the lights drop as the weight and vision of the American Dream continues its tug of war, between the immigrants who once founded this country and those looking to make her home". Variety wrote that "in the end, Miranda’s impassioned narrative of one man’s story becomes the collective narrative of a nation, a nation built by immigrants who occasionally need to be reminded where they came from." Newsday described the finale as "focused", while Uloop said it "gives the heaviest meaning to any show in recent memory". SFsite said "The grand finale features the convergence of the two storylines and Hamilton provides us with a very satisfactory, although somewhat ironic, conclusion to this epic tale." The Huffington Post wrote "The show ends with a bang, then a whimper, then a harmony." Vibe said that the "reflective yet dramatic instrumental" backs the casts' "posing of a simple yet deep question". AmericanTheatre thought the titular refrain "seems more of a contemporary hip-hop paradigm than it does a celebration of an unsung founding father".

The AV Club wrote "The musical’s oft-repeated question, 'Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?' is answered not with a self-congratulatory pat on the back about the Hamilton’s importance but with a salute to a woman whose face can’t be found on any currency. It’s a breathtaking and unexpected finale—the equivalent of ending Steve Jobs with a five-minute monologue from Kate Winslet’s character, Joanna Hoffman, about her own achievements." The New Yorker notes "The last verse—unexpectedly, and powerfully—belongs to Eliza". CentreOnTheAisle said that "Act two, while engaging, doesn’t reach the heights of its predecessor, until the show’s plaintive 'Finale' in a hauntingly beautiful performance" by Eliza Hamilton.