My Shot (Hamilton)
“My Shot”, from the musical Hamilton contains lyrics that illustrate several economic concepts. First, Hamilton is talking about going to King’s College (which is now Columbia University) to gain skills…
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Shipyard (The Last Ship)
The musical The Last Ship is set in Wallsend, England. In this town, there is one shipyard that will close in the near future. The workers sing about how “the only…
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The Winner Takes It All (Mamma Mia)
The singer, Donna is singing to her one-time romantic partner. In singing “The Winner Takes it All”, she is implying that romantic relationships are a zero-sum game, that one person’s…
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Welcome to the Renaissance (Something Rotten)
This song sets the stage for Something Rotten (the musical), but it also gives us insight into an interesting period of time. Many new products were invented during the renaissance…
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A New Argentina (Evita)
Peron and Eva are nervous about being arrested by the military, but they have a secret weapon: unions. In many political systems, some politicians have a symbiotic relationship with unions….
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Come to the Fun Home (Fun Home)
The children of the Bechdel Funeral Home decide to make a commercial. In their song, they attempt to differentiate their funeral home from the competition. The children mention several reasons…
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96,000 (In the Heights)
The manager of the convenience store and his friends find out that somebody purchased a winning lottery ticket worth $96,000 from his store. This group, all of whom live in…
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7 1/2 Cents (The Pajama Game)
The singers discuss the many things they could do by earning 7 ½ cents an hour, a wage that is about 1/100th of the current US minimum wage. A great…
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Life Story (Closer Than Ever)
The singer discusses her life story in this song, starting with her “liberated marriage”. Many economic concepts are covered here, including: * college tuition costs * the loss of human…
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Bilbao Song (Happy Ending)
The singers are singing about Bilbao, an old hangout for the crowd that has gathered. They remember the good times they used to have at a low cost, lamenting the…
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