Watch The Decemberists Bring Out Lin-Manuel Miranda In Central Park
Here’s a litmus test for you: How does the thought of a surprise Lin-Manuel Miranda guest spot at a Decemberists concert sit with you? Do you find the prospect of such a collaboration delightful or unbearable? It’s hard to imagine many people landing in the middle there.
The delighted parties are probably already aware that Miranda teamed with the Decemberists to write “Ben Franklin’s Song” back in 2017 as part of the Hamildrops song series. The Hamilton creator had some leftover lyrics from the perspective of a Ben Franklin character who he couldn’t figure out how to work into the play, and he’d imagined the character singing in a Decemberist-y way, so he figured Meloy might as well convert those bars into an authentic Decemberists number.
Last night during the Decemberists’ show in New York’s Central Park, they invited Miranda onstage with them to perform “Ben Franklin’s Song,” after warning the parents in the audience that their children were about to be subjected to “vulgar” language. (The song’s chorus: “Do you know who the fuck I am?”) That performance can be viewed below.