Schuyler Defeated
Producers
Look!
Grandpa’s in the paper!
“War hero Philip Schuyler loses senate seat to young upstart Aaron Burr”
Grandpa just lost his seat in the senate
[ELIZA]
Sometimes that’s how it goes
[PHILIP]
Daddy’s gonna find out any minute
[ELIZA]
I’m sure he already knows
[PHILIP]
Further down
[PHILIP & ELIZA]
Further down
[PHILIP]
Let’s meet the newest senator from New York
[ELIZA]
New York
Our senator
[HAMILTON]
Burr?
Since when are you a Democratic-Republican?
[BURR]
Since being one put me on the up and up again
[HAMILTON]
No one knows who you are or what you do
[BURR]
They don’t need to know me
They don’t like you
[HAMILTON]
Excuse me?
[BURR]
Oh, Wall Street thinks you’re great
You’ll always be adored by the things you create
But upstate—
[HAMILTON]
Wait
—people think you’re crooked
Schuyler’s seat was up for grabs so I took it
[HAMILTON]
I’ve always considered you a friend
[BURR]
I don’t see why that has to end
[HAMILTON]
You changed parties to run against my father-in-law
[BURR]
I changed parties to seize the opportunity I saw
I swear your pride will be the death of us all
Beware, it goeth before the fall
About
Multiple motifs from “The Schuyler Sisters”—both Burr’s part and the sisters'—recur here in an arch reprise. Instead of the Schuyler family being on the pulse of politics, they’re being forced out. In “Schuyler Sisters,” Burr adopted a teasing rap style that he used in that song to talk himself up to Angelica. Now he uses it again to poke at Hamilton about his recent rise in prominence. Their brief argument marks the end of Hamilton and Burr’s (already contentious and contested) friendship. Things fall apart, and are pointedly foreshadowed. Battle lines are drawn for an increasingly vicious series of conflicts between Team Hamilton/Washington and what will soon be Team Burr/Jefferson (“Washington On Your Side”).
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 3.My Shot
- 10.Helpless
- 11.Satisfied
- 13.Wait For It
- 14.Stay Alive
- 16.Meet Me Inside
- 18.Guns and Ships
- 21.What Comes Next?
- 22.Dear Theodosia
- 23.Non-Stop
- 24.What’d I Miss
- 26.Take a Break
- 27.Say No to This
- 29.Schuyler Defeated
- 32.One Last Time
- 33.I Know Him
- 35.We Know
- 36.Hurricane
- 38.Burn
- 39.Blow Us All Away