News and journalism
'Hamilton' Is The Very Model Of A Modern Fast-Paced Musical
FiveThirtyEight, 2015
Read the originalRead on October 16, 2026
- What it is
- A data analysis of the lyrics of the Hamilton cast album and of other Broadway scores, counting words per minute for each track and the fastest verses. It was published on 5 October 2015.
- How much weight it carries
- A data journalism article with its method described in the text. We read the archived copy because the original page now redirects. The speeds are for single verses and tracks, measured in one analysis, so treat them as estimates.
Facts taken from this source
- In the same 2015 analysis, the fastest tracks of the Hamilton score run just under 200 words per minute, while the five slowest run from 64 to 80 words per minute.
“the fastest tracks are just shy of 200 words per minute, while the five slowest fall in the range of 64 to 80 words per minute” (Paragraph on pace variation in the Hamilton score)
- In a 2015 analysis, the fastest verse in the Hamilton song Guns and Ships had 19 words in 3 seconds, which the table lists as 6.3 words per second.
“FASTEST VERSE SONG WORDS LENGTH SPEED (WORDS/SEC) Guns and Ships (Hamilton) 19 3s 6.3” (Table of the fastest verses, after the paragraph on Guns and Ships)