Grief and Loss

Definition of grief and stages of grief go here.

Here is an example of a song analysis.

A song about grief that I find extremely moving is  "It's Quiet Uptown" from the play, Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda.  This song is really about a double dose of grief because it is about Alexander Hamilton, and his wife, Eliza who had just suffered a huge rupture in their relationship when Alexander told her (and the whole world) that he had had an affair with another woman.   Not long after, their son, Phillip is killed in a duel.  This song describes the grief of that loss while also eluding to the loss of the trust in their relationship.  One stage of grief described in the song is depression.  Evidence of depression can be heard in the description of the pain the Hamilton's are feeling, "There are moments where words don't reach.  There is suffering too terrible to name."  Clearly these lines describe tremendous sadness and depression.  Another stage in grief evident in the song is bargaining.  When Alexander says to his wife, "If I could spare his life If I could trade his life for mine He'd be standing here right now And you would smile, and that would be enough, " he is bargaining  his life in exchange for his son's life and his wife's happiness.   I think there are even more stages of grief described in the song but I will leave them to you to discover on your own as you listen.