It is time... for Phillip and Knowhere's second tango! Or is it a waltz? Because the song I'm using is "Your Obedient Servant" from Hamilton!
I imagine this takes place when Phillip has come to Knowhere with the second fetch item, which turns out to be an heirloom passed down by his parents to him (the firstborn). Knowhere muses about how things tend to become much more valuable when you can't get more of it, usually after someone has died. Phillip argues back that the heirloom belonged to a respected ancestor, probably a great leader/role model with a legacy no one else in the line quite matched.
Knowhere asks Phillip if he would have liked to meet him, to which Phil slips that he intends to, once he figures out how to bring Katie Lou back.
The chord starts with tension, cued by Knowhere's "Is that so?"
How does a human
One in a line spanning many a millennium
Conquer the law of expiration, law of nature
The counterpart of life from the beginning?
What kind of hubris are you spinning?
They say that pride comes before the fall
Before the fall
Before the fall
Your pride will come before your fall
For I've seen it all
<Knowhere's tail grabs Phillip and yanks him into a waltz. Though surprised at the sudden movement, Phillip is steadier at this point than during the first encounter.>
I've lived a long life
And I've seen the strife of humankind
How their trying to play god plays with their little minds
They try every way they can
But it always ends the same
They give their time and love and lives up to their shame
Some start with good intentions, for others it's fear
While you have your head on straight to lend in ear, listen here
Hold on to what you still have before you lose it
So says I
<Knowhere ends the waltz with an "attempt" (he anticipates resistance) to dip Phillip, who twists the dance so that he takes the lead. As a side note, this would look very funny because of height discrepancy>
You haven't seen everything
I can name two who had died unfairly
Good souls gone before their time
Don't you think that that's a grave injustice?
I only wish to amend this crime
Even if you lived as long as you lived
You should know there are billions of chances
Maybe with Morose's wares I'll make further advances
Hey! I'm giving it my all
I have got the gall, I know the order's tall
But I know my little sister's worth it
I could save her still
I've got a duty as a brother to fulfill!
I'm taking back what I lost so I can hold on to it
So says I
<Knowhere's grin strains, his second eyes remain closed but they happen to clench. This becomes a battle for higher ideological ground represented by fighting for the lead>
Keep looking to the past then, friend
How much longer will he last then, friend?
You will suffocate in all the grief that you amassed
If you don't move on fast then, friend
Look, I don't see what your problem is
What do you have to gain from any of this?!
Before we met this night I didn't know you
So you've no right to tell me what to do!
<At this point, Knowhere lets go, the momentum sending Phillip stumbling on his back to the ground>
Very well, Philip
Choose your perk
Then it's back to work
<I couldn't figure out what lyrics to put for the end, because Phillip and Knowhere are completely out of sync now ideologically, so I'm just gonna have the piano guy somberly play them out where the lyrics "I have the honor to be your obedient servant" would have been. As it plays, Knowhere lays out his wares.
The "A dot Ham" notes will focus the camera shot on Phillip's pensive face.
The "A dot Burr" notes will have Knowhere's usual (albeit stiff) grin>
I remember seeing this animatic (can't find it anymore) for the song on Youtube in which Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton's letter exchanges were represented by a waltz, in which whoever is writing is the one leading. Seeing as this is how we're seeing the debate between Phillip and Knowhere, I figured "Your Obedient Servant" would be perfect for it.
Rhyming Anon once again strikes with another absolutely wonderful piece >:D I was not expecting Your Obedient Servant (I'll be so fr that I have not listened to the entirety of the Hamiltion musical and YOS was one of the songs i haven't listened to so this gave me an excuse to finally do so and it is so good like omgggg) to be the base of this adaption but it is a very welcome surprise :)
And once again this is another wonderful piece you've written :D the structure of the song and the lyrics work absolutely perfectly >:)
Lyric analysis and potential scene ideas time (though it's mostly lyric analysis this time around) >:D
I love the idea that the second item Phillip exchanges is a heirloom passed to him by his parents, with that heirloom belonging to a respected ancestors of his. Fits with the theme of this adaption and sets up Phillip for the difficult decision of giving up something Howard gave him (or it could even be something Phillip got for Howard that he cherishes deeply) and the even more extremely difficult decision of giving up the pillow Katie Lou made for him. I can see him giving up the heirloom near the end of the song, maybe due to him becoming so angry and annoyed by Knowhere that he just wanted to get his upgrade and get out.
'What kind of hubris are you spinning?' Broooo love this like hello??? I can honestly see Knowhere playing up his shock at Phillip's audacity to claim he will be able to bring Katie Lou and that when he does he'll meet his distant ancestor. He's seen this kind of hubris all too many times for him to be that surprised anymore, but playing up and exaggerating his shock might help Phillip realize how unattainable this desire is. Doesn't work this time around though.
The 'pride comes before the fall' line omg not only is it so good to imagine it sung with the song' instrumentals but also I can imagine a separate song titled with this lyric, perhaps focused on Phillip's realization of how his own pride and grief is going to turn him into another Morose if he keeps up with his stubborn beliefs. After all, isn't many a downfall caused by arrogance? (like how in Hamilton there's a song titled The Room Where It Happens and that title is used as lyrics in Your Obedient Servant, though pretty sure TRWIH doesn't work in this context, maybe if it could work if it's stretched to have it be about Morose's descent into madness and moral depravity as a separate song?) And it isn't just himself whose suffering from his pride. Howard's suffering from his inaction because of his pride, the world is at stake if he lets his pride take control of him. He can't let himself be blinded by pride and grief any longer.
'While you have your head on straight to lend in ear listen here, hold on to what you still have before you lose it' loooovvveee this lyric here omggggg, Knowhere straight up spelling out what Phillip needs to do to heal and to save his friend. Makes Phillip's later line of 'I'm taking back what I lost so I can hold onto it' really sad. You can't really blame him for wanting what's been taken from him but it's clear it's hurting him for holding on as strong as he is.
Also the idea of Phillip somehow getting out of the dip in the dance with how much taller Knowhere is compared to him is a very funny image to imagine I love it XD
'I can name two who had died unfairly' referring to Katie Lou and Howard's mother 👀 love it :) shows that Phillip still thinks of Howard but also that he doesn't understand why and how he moved on from her unjustified death.
Knowhere's 'are you serious' made me snort XD but also it's a justified reaction because surely even Phillip can see from what he's seen so far that Morose is not someone he wants to be working with, right? And oh boy Phillip is not ready for what he's about to find out about Morose's true nature and what he did (that broken pedestal moment he's going to have later will not be pretty lol). Knowhere is definitely narrowing his second set of eyes at the very least as he grits this line out.
The 'how much longer will he last then, friend?' makes me think. Of course it's Knowhere referring to how Howard will eventually die from suffocation if Phillip doesn't stop being stubborn, but also from Phillip's view on it with his current beliefs and ideals at this time, he could be seeing this line as 'how much longer will he last until Morose comes to see that he made an error in not choosing me as well?' since at this point in time, Phillip hasn't yet learned of all the disgusting things Morose did to Howard so he just assumes that Howard's fine and Knowhere is just using this as not substantial justification against him. I can imagine him rolling his eyes slightly when Knowhere sings this. What in the world could this talking cat mean by that? Howard's fine (not).
This also makes me think that the upgrades Phillip chooses with each item he gives to Knowhere can correspond to how he stands with his beliefs at the time of each exchange. For example, this exchange could have him choose the upgrade that gives him deeper pockets to represent how he still is hanging onto Katie and his desire to bring her back, and at this point in time he'll risk digging himself deeper if he keeps letting his grief get the better of him, while the Defying Gravity adaption has him choose speed/stamina to represent him no longer shackled by his unhealthy desire and is no longer letting Howard wait anymore.
Also some of the last lyrics 'before we met this night I didn't know you so you've no right to tell me what to do' makes me think this can act as a parallel moment to the confrontation between Phillip and Samantha in the My Goodbye rendition. Here it's Phillip who's the one who doesn't see that he's wrong (yet) and Knowhere pointing that out but as of now he doesn't listen. Later on in the My Goodbye rendition, Samantha takes the stance Phillip had in the Your Obedient Servant rendition, stubborn, thinking they're in the right, asking how someone they never met have the audacity to tell them what to do. By this point though, Phillip has grown to be in Knowhere's place of telling Samantha that though she had good intentions, it doesn’t change the fact that she was complicit in wrongful imprisonment and allowed her husband to still hurt Howard even before her death because of her neutrality, neutrality that granted, shifted towards being more against her husband overtime, but even then it was too late.
I think it makes this rendition a lot better that there were no more lyrics that follow the last 'I have the honor to be your obedient servent' in the original song :) it emphasises just how far apart both Phillip and Knowhere are in terms of ideologies at this point that they can't really say anything else after that last exchange, because what else can they say to change the other's mind?
Also little note about the tango and waltz, I think it would be a neat thing for Phillip and Knowhere's dances to be different dance styles with each encounter, with both parties becoming more in sync with each other as songs progress to show that they're slowly becoming more amicable with each other :)
As always I must reiterate you have cooked once again Rhyming Anon :D
