Ben Platt And Lin-Manuel Miranda Combined Forces For A ‘March For Our Lives’ Anthem

Miranda and Platt Image by Forward Collage/GETTY

By Jenny Singer March 19, 2018

The heart-stopping anthem released on Monday by Lin Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt to celebrate the “March For Our Lives” gun violence prevention actions this weekend needs no introduction, only some background.

The three-minute song, “Found Tonight,” mashes up Miranda’s “Story Of Tonight” from his smash musical “Hamilton” and the song “You Will Be Found,” from Platt’s star turn in “Dear Evan Hansen,” by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. This means the song draws from one story about teenage revolutionaries, and another about teens triumphing over despair.

The song begins with a rewritten line from “Hamilton” — instead of “we may not live to sing our glory,” Platt sings, “we may not yet have reached our glory.” All the proceeds from downloads of the song go to “March For Our Lives,” a gun violence prevention demonstration that will take place on March 24 in Washington DC.

Platt’s extraordinary gift for vulnerability and vocal sublimity are on display here, as is Miranda’s once-in-a-generation passion. Watch below.

Jenny Singer is a writer for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Jenny Singer is a freelance writer with pieces in Vox, the Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, and more. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and the Forward, and she’s currently getting an MFA in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO