Two of the most influential musicals of this generation have, without a doubt, been Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” and Levenson, Pasek and Paul’s, “Dear Evan Hansen.” Both are extremely popular with teenagers who love musical theatre and those who don’t know a thing about it. “Dear Evan Hansen” deals with topics that hit close to home with many teens, such as anxiety, high school and teenage suicide. “Hamilton” recounts the life story of founding father Alexander Hamilton from his arrival in America to his death long after the American Revolution. Ben Platt and Lin-Manuel Miranda, the titular characters of their respective shows, have teamed up in creating a message for the March 24 March for Our Lives movement.
This song consists of a mashup of two songs, “The Story of Tonight” from “Hamilton,” which the main characters sing in anticipation of their revolution and “You Will Be Found” from “Dear Evan Hansen,” sung by Evan at a suicide prevention awareness pep rally. It starts off with modified lyrics of “The Story of Tonight,” embracing the song’s theme of fighting for freedom and enacting a revolution. The lyrics are changed to fit the narratives of the students involved in the March for Our Lives revolution, most of them high school and college aged kids who will create the story and live to see how it is told.
Switching to “You Will Be Found” from “Dear Evan Hansen” in the next verse, the theme of feeling alone and unsafe is prevalent in the lyrics. This is not a strange feeling for many teenagers; with the current gun policies in America many kids feel unsafe in their schools and unheard by adults when trying to incite change. This song also highlights the feeling of being alone in the world. While many kids feel ostracized and alone in their fears and anxiety, they don’t realize that many of their classmates are feeling the same as they are. In this case, the message is encouraging these students to reach out to one another. The hashtag generated by this musical, #YouWillBeFound, is used as an awareness campaign for teen suicide and has been a call for those who are feeling outcast to share their story. Teens across America have been sharing, and continue to share, their stories and experiences in coping with the tragedies caused by the current gun control laws in anticipation of the March 24 event.
The line “raise a glass to freedom / something they can never take away / no matter what they tell you” is key in conveying the message of this song. The point is that whoever “they” are, they cannot silence those who are protesting. The National Rifle Association and politicians that try to shut these protesters down because they’re “kids” have not stopped them from organizing a national revolution that has organized more that 700 nationwide and 800 international protests. The proceeds generated by “Found / Tonight” will be donated to March for Our Lives initiative.
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