After Hamilton publishes his affair with Maria Reynolds for all to see, Eliza sings “Burn”, in which she laments the loss of her husband. The piano plays a repeating rhythm of six notes throughout, which adds a slow lilt to the song itself. Eliza begins the song by re-reading all of Hamilton’s love letters, claiming that she knew how much he loved her from the moment she read them. At this point, it seems as though she is talking about a forbidden or perhaps unrequited love, as she mentions Angelica’s warning that she should be careful with Hamilton because of his flighty personality. She uses several visual metaphors to indicate how eloquent his words were and how much of an impact they had; for example, she compares his paragraphs to palaces/cathedrals in an effort to show how beautiful and monumental they are to her. Eliza snaps out of it for a second, revealing that she is re-reading all of Hamilton’s letters searching for answers, and there is a clear feeling of loss and betrayal in her voice as she sings.

The tone of her voice changes from confused to indignant as she explains the various ways which he humiliated her. She doesn’t understand how he could just turn around and throw away what they had for the sake of upholding his reputation. When Angelica hears the news, see compares Hamilton to the Greek figure Icarus, who tragically plummeted to his death after flying too close to the sun. The myth itself is meant to portray the consequences of being too prideful, just as Hamilton was too prideful of his good name to even consider the consequences of his actions. With this new knowledge of who her husband is as a person, Eliza is able to see how paranoid, senseless, and narcissistic Hamilton really is. Finally, Eliza decides to remove herself from the equation entirely. She does not want any future historians to know how she reacted when her heart was broken. She watches, full of anger and frustration, as she throws the letters into the fire. As the music swells, her voice becomes more ruthless as she declares that he no longer has the right to her heart or the right to sleep in their bed. The music dies suddenly, and with a tangible bitterness in her words, she hopes that Hamilton burns for what he has done.

In 2018, Lin Manuel Miranda released “First Burn”, the first draft of the song he wrote back in 2014. The song is sung by 5 actresses who had formerly played Eliza Hamilton, each one adding their own interpretation to the mix. While the piano rhythm in the original remains the same in this version, the notes are slightly different, creating an eerie, creepy vibe. The first stanza remains mostly unchanged, but in the second stanza, they mention Angelica’s Icarus metaphor, which occurs much later in the original song. Eliza goes on to spit in Alexander’s face, telling him not to take another step in her direction because she can’t trust him anymore. Her anger is palpable; he won’t be able to talk himself out of this one. At this point, she begins to re-read his love letters, then throwing them into the fire one by one. In a series of tweets, Lin Manuel explains the difference in emotional intensity between the two versions:

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Eliza goes on to talk about how she should have seen this coming, given Hamilton’s history of charming women. She’s sick of people telling her that he’s part of some scheme; sick of hearing the whispers and rumors about his infidelity. Eliza also mentions that she sees the way Hamilton looks at Angelica, implying that she was actually aware of their secret fling. In this moment of explosive anger, she stops and declares that no one will know how she felt. As the music adds to the dramatic tension, she demands that Hamilton look his other children in the eye and explain to them how he broke her heart. She screams that she and his children are his true legacy, and that he has now destroyed any chance of a normal life with her. The music abruptly cuts off, as the voices unanimously yell “don’t” and the song ends.