#20 - In the Heights Ranking

So, we've been through "Atención", "The Club" and "Benny's Dispatch". Three songs in and this is getting harder and harder every time.

I decided to pick "Hundreds of Stories" for number 20. Let's analyze.

USNAVI:

So we survived the night;

What happens today?

If this is not one the major pieces of foreshadowing in the show, I honestly don't know what is.

Yeah, Usnavi and Abuela survived the night, but what happens that day? Yeah. Abuela dies. That's what happens. But this line is what really made me rate this song in a higher place; it's so subtle and quite smart.

ABUELA CLAUDIA:

Now you can sell your store!

Open a bar by the shore!

I’ve told you hundreds of stories

About home; make some more.

There's a simple rhyme scheme here: store/shore/more, and it's interesting that the name of the song doesn't rhyme with the rest of the lines.

Also, here comes another subject that's really important for the show, which is home and the stories related to it. Abuela Claudia talks about her already having fulfilled her dream of having a nice life in New York, and she has found her own home now. But, as selfless as she is, she wants to help Usnavi fulfill his own dream of finding home.

 USNAVI:

Yo! I know just where to go!

There’s a little beach named Playa Rincón

With no road, you need a rowboat or motorbike

To reach this beach, it’s just a stone’s throw

From home

My folks’ home

Before I was born

Before they passed on

And left me on my own, in New York, with the grocery store

They would talk about home, I listened closely for

The way they whispered to each other

‘Bout the warmer winter weather

Inseparable, they even got sick together

They never got better… passed away that December

And left me with these memories like dyin’ embers

From a dream I can’t remember…

We have consonance again, in reach/beach, and an alliteration in warmer winter weather. It's basically the repitition of a consonant at the beginning of a word. 

And there's also a possible Edgar Allan Poe reference here, in "[...] passed away that December / And left me with these memories like dyin' embers." You can find a quite similar line in "The Raven": 

"Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor."

It might be a stretch though, but rhyming "December" with "dying ember" is something popular, along with the "remember" at the end. 

USNAVI:

Ever since then it’s like

Another day deeper in debt with different dilemmas

The bodega’s a mess, I’ll be seeing less of Vanessa

Abuela I don’t know how I can keep it together!

Usnavi wants to leave everything behind and go to Dominican Republic, including his problems. The reason why he doesn't think of New York as home is because everything he's been through there is bad. Or at least all of what made a bigger impact on him. His parents died, he's in debt, and now there's a blackout and the bodega was pretty much destroyed. Besides that, he messed it up with Vanessa. So there isn't much good for him in New York, and now that Abuela has won the lottery, he has the chance to flee. 

ABUELA CLAUDIA:

Remember the story of your name...

It was engraved on a passing ship on the day your family came

Your father said “Usnavi,​

That’s what we’ll name the baby.”

Usnavi is stressed beyond belief and Abuela tries to calm him down with a story about his family. That's the power of our abuelas, y'all. Also, Usnavi is named after a U.S. Navy boat. 

USNAVI:

It really said “U.S. Navy,” but hey…

I worked with what they gave me okay…

Abuela's positivity is contagious. If life gives you lemons... 

ABUELA CLAUDIA:

We’ll find your island—

USNAVI:

I’ll find my island sky

ABUELA CLAUDIA:

Ay, find your island—

USNAVI:

But whatever we do it’s—

USNAVI/ABUELA CLAUDIA:

You and I!

This line really shows the union that exists between these two. It was already stated in the first song, and in "The Club", but here it's when we realize how close they really are. They're gonna be leaving together only because Abuela wants to share her prize with Usnavi and Sonny. 

This song may not have an amazing writing technique, but it always gets my heart like this:

And for a good reason.

-A.

#21 - In the Heights Ranking

I decided to start this because of my English major, and, ironically, my major stopped me from posting this yesterday. Oh, well. I'm back.

My pick for the 21st position on this list is "Benny's Dispatch". Yeah, sorry for rating it so low; don't get me wrong, I love this song, but this is getting tough. Let's just get at it.

Okay, we got traffic on the west side

Get off at 79th, and take the left side

Of Riverside Drive, and ya might slide

West End’s ya best friend if you catch the lights

And don’t take the Deegan;

Manny Ramirez is in town this weekend

Sorry Dominicans, take Route Eighty-seven

You ain’t getting back in again

Hold up a minute.

No fancy words for you today just yet. In the second verse of the song we have a simple rhyme scheme with side/side/slide. Not a big deal. 

NINA

Benny, hey—

BENNY

Nina, you’re home today!

NINA

Any sign—

BENNY

...Of your folks, they’re on their way!

NINA

Anyway—

BENNY

It’s good to see your face—

NINA

Anytime—

Nina and Benny haven't seen each other in a year, and one of the first things  Benny does is to finish her sentences. This works in a way in which it foreshadows the fact that at some point they're going to end up together. It's a really cliché idea that two characters in a musical are "meant to be", but here it's portrayed in a really smart way. 

Benny and Nina have communication issues, which they work out in a metaphorical sense in "Sunrise". But here, they're shown to be in the same page.

BENNY

Hold up a minute, wait!

You used to run this dispatch, right?

NINA

Once or twice—

BENNY

Well check the technique! Yo!

There’s a traffic accident I have to mention

At the intersection of 10th Ave and the Jacob Javitz Convention Center

And check it, don’t get stuck in the rubber-neckin’

On a Hundred-Ninety-Second, there’s a double-decker bus wreck!

Now listen up, we got a special guest!

Of course Nina used to run the dispatch, Benny. Her parents are the owners. 

Anyway.

We have a kind of unsual rhyme pattern here, but it makes sense. It goes: mention/intersection/Convention, but "intersection" is placed almost at the beginning of the line.

This is where another poetic device comes in place, which is stress. It's basically the parts in the line in which the accent falls. So how does this affect the rhyme scheme? It works like this.

The line "There's a traffic accident I have to mention" has six stresses. "Intersection" falls on the third stress of the line, and we start counting again at "of 10th Ave and the Jacob Javitz Convention Center", in which "Convention" is placed at the sixth stress, giving us a 6/3/6 stress scheme. So, it's a whole line, half a line, and a whole line again.

Then, we have some consonance once more, with "check/stuck/neckin'/Second/decker/wreck". Not too complicated.

And the song finishes like this:

BENNY

Anytime. Anytime, Nina.

Wait here with me

It’s getting hot outside, turn up the A.C

Stay here with me.

These "Anytime. Anytime" placed here serve the purpose of completing the pattern of Nina's words, which were "Any sign.../Anyway.../Any time." 

And the last three lines of the song are being said in a more quiet, intimate way. The whole song we've seen Benny talking in the microphone, being noisy and making the other drivers honk their horns. This change of tone is another sign that these two are something else other than just friends. At least for Benny, anyway.

Also, this is entirely out of my lane, but it's something I noticed.

The riffs at the end of this song match the ones used in "When You're Home", right before Benny begins to talk to Nina about what they used to do when they were younger, and ultimately revealing he's got a crush on her.

Interesting, right?

They're forshadowing everything; I told you so.

-A.

#22 - In the Heights Ranking

I spent my entire Greek and Latin class thinking about this, so you better appreciate it.

My pick for #23 was "Atención", but today, for number 23, I picked "The Club".
Yeah, I know. I know, salsa is great, and I agree with you, but we're talking about technique here.

This song fits just right in its place before the ending of the first act, and really embodies the way Latino people celebrate pretty much anything: with dance, drinks and music.
Now, let's get to the analysis:

Damn, this is nice,

I really like what they’ve done with the lights.

So, the hot club in Washington Heights;

You might be right, this music’s tight.

Yo, did I mention that you look great tonight?

Because you do you really—

The rhyme scheme lights/Heights is mentioned in the opening number, although there it's presented in a more creative way. (Yeah, sorry.) Then again, I'm not saying this is bad, this is just way more conventional and we're all used to this kind of rhymes at the end of the line, which also happens with tight/tonight. This is a really popular style in writing, known as AABB rhyme scheme. 

And here comes your second fancy word of this series, which is consonance. We can find it in might/right,where the similar-sounding words are close to each other to accentuate the metre.

You thought "consonance" was the only fancy word of the day? You thought wrong. Because we also have something called aposiopesis, in the last line. It's basically the interruption of a line to give an emotional effect. In this case, Usnavi's ramble is interrupted by Vanessa, trying to call him down, but failing. 

We also find a little bit of a flashback to "It Won't be Long Now", where Vanessa talks about how she doesn't go out with any of the guys in the barrio because none of them has "nothing to say." But even though Usnavi seems to have a lot to say, he really can't find peace while being around Vanessa, since when he speaks again we have something similar as his first verse. 

Now, here comes something interesting, with Benny's help:

BENNY:

Here’s to getting fired!

USNAVI:

To killing the mood!

BOTH:

Salud!

BENNY:

Without so much as a “thank you!”

USNAVI:

After five long years.

BOTH:

Cheers!

BENNY:

To finally getting Vanessa!

Man, fix your collar...

USNAVI:

Holler!

BENNY:

To doing shots on a weekend!

USNAVI:

As long as you buy ‘em, l’chaim!

Here, Usnavi shifts from Spanish, to English, to Yiddish, showing his own culture, along with an assimilation of others. 

(You're paying for the shots, Usnavi. Benny just got fired.)

After a particularly dramatic encounter between Benny and Nina, and after Usnavi let Vanessa dance with José (yes, that José), now every single man in the club has decided to go try to dance with her, since despite Usnavi being there, it doesn't even feel like they went together.

Vanessa, let me get the next one!

Vanessa, let me interject some!

The way you sweat, the way you flex on the floor

It makes me want you more!

We know it's Vanessa they're refering to, from the first line, and from what's happening on stage. 

But this anaphora (reminder here) might be also serving another purpose. 

These men really want to dance with Vanessa, enough to try to call her attention by calling her name not once, but twice per verse, this last one being repeated three times. 

At this point, Usnavi is not having it. But as awkward as he is, he tries to hit on another girl, who just so happened to be Yolanda (yes, that Yolanda).

USNAVI:

Bartender!

Let me get an amaretto sour for this ghetto flower!

How are you so pretty?

You complete me

You had me at "hello," you know you need me

Truly, madly, deeply, let’s get freaky.

Oh I get it, you’re the strong and silent type

Well, I’m the Caribbean island type

And I can drive you wild all night!

But I digress!

Say something so I don’t stress

YOLANDA:

No hablo inglés

USNAVI:

Yes!

And the last fancy word of the day is assonance, which we can find in the sounds of sour/flower.

It's basically the use of vowels to create a good metre. 

He also says "me" three times. The repetition of a same word at the end of a rhyme symbolizes the poetic voice (Usnavi, in this case) feeling or getting stuck, according to the Man Himself. 

He then breaks out of it with an incredibly awkward line. 

Another consonance can be found with strong/silent/island.  

And at the end, a really nice rhyming work, with digress/stress/inglés/yes, which, I dare say, is the finest rhyme in this song. 

(At the end, he can be actually relieved she doesn't speak English. That way, she didn't get a word of what he said, so they're not gonna have an awkward moment after his discourse. Thank God.)

This was longer than yesterday's, and as the ranking goes up, I'm sure this posts won't do anything else than getting bigger. Because that's how it works, people, I don't make the rules.

Blame Oxford and Hirsch. (No, not that Hirsch.)

-A.

#23 - In the Heights Ranking

My pick for number 23 on this list is "Atención".
Yeah, I think it was pretty obvious. 
DISCLAIMER: Spoilers ahead.

I'm not saying it's a boring song, because it really isn't. (It is pretty heartbreaking, in fact.)
Although this 54-seconds piece is set after a particularly cheerful song ("Carnaval del Barrio") and it serves its purpose quite well, at a technical level is no less than just a transition device.
Let's give it a quick analysis.

Atención, atención

Roll down your windows

Turn up your radios

Un momento, por favor

Atención, atención

Please drive slow

Let everybody know

Abuela Claudia passed away

At noon today

Here comes the first fancy word of this series:

･ﾟ✧Anaphora･ﾟ✧; which is the repetition of a word or a set of words in a literary composition. Here, the word "atención" is used four times, in Spanish. It's a really important choice, just so we don't forget one of the main points in the show: the use of a mixture between English and Spanish words, especially for Kevin. 

This song is way more calm compared to the previous one ("Carnaval del Barrio"), so it feels like a kick on the face. Mostly because of the fact that Abuela's death is forshadowed throughout the show, and when "Carnaval del Barrio" happens, it makes you feel like nothing can go wrong, if you read pretty well between the lines and you're already worried about Abuela Claudia. But then the music dies, and Nina appears on stage, grabs Usnavi and takes him to Abuela's apartment. 

Then, this happens, with the rest of the barrio still celebrating. 

This song is just a transition between a previous moment of happiness and a posterior instant of mourning. 

At first you don't know what has happened, but you know it must be bad, because the rhythm is so slow; you can almost feel your stomach sinking from the uncertainty this song gives. The news are revealed at the very ending of it, to relief said uncertainty with sadness. 

Despite being no longer than a minute, it serves its purpose quite well, and opens the door for a second wave of heartbreak, which is "Alabanza". But we'll get to discuss that some other time.

-A.

Maybe I'm just bored... Which means "new series!"

It's been approximately three months since I became an English major and I already feel like I have enough knowledge to start doing this. So much for humbleness.

As you probably know by now, I'm a huge Broadway fan. Musicals are my to-go music with every situation in my life, and I don't think I can ever go back to my old ways. And even though anyone can tell you there are some better musicals than others, I'm going to do it with style. This means that I'm going to rub some knowledge on your face. Because you can also learn about English writing through musicals, otherwise, what's the point?

So what this is going to be about, then? Well, it's going to be a parade of fancy words to name the artistic things some lyricists use in ther song-writing process. Something like a Literature-meets-Broadway-extravaganza. 

I've decided, for no particular reason, to start with In the Heights.

And this is how it's going to be done, so pay attention.

There are 23 songs in the show, and I'm going to rate them from 23 to number 1, based upon the level of wit and the use of poetic devices to deliver the message intended, being 23 the least and 1 the most, of course. This won't be measured based upon whether I hate or love the song, I'll only take in account the technical aspects of each one of them. 

Here's a list of the song included in the show, just so you can go and listen to them if you haven't yet. (If that's the case: Why did it take you so long?)

1.- "In the Heights"

2.- "Breathe"

3.- "Benny's Dispatch"

4.- "It Won't be Long Now"

5.- "Inútil"

6.- "No me Diga"

7.- "96,000"

8.- "Paciencia y Fe"

9.- "When You're Home"

10.- "Piragua"

11.- "The Club"

12.- "Blackout"

13.- "Sunrise"

14.- "Hundreds of Stories"

15.- "Enough"

16.- "Carnaval del Barrio"

17.- "Atención"

18.- "Alabanza"

19.- "Everything I Know"

20.- "Piragua" (Reprise)

21.- "Champagne"

22.- "When the Sun Goes Down"

23.- "Finale"

That should be it. This starts tomorrow, be prepared.

-A.

DISCLAIMER: The fact that I decided to spend most of my evenings with this does not mean under any circumstances that I, as an English major, just happen to have a lot of spare time. I do not, in fact.

I just procrastinate a lot. 

I bet my classmates are doing something way more productive like this. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯