Epilogue Lyrics
Epilogue
[NARRATOR]Justin would later find out it's a felony in Florida to sell marijuana. And the penalty is even harsher for selling it on school property. In other words, Justin had made an irreversibly bad decision. And since he was over 18, he was legally an adult when he made it
[NAOMI]
Seriously, these kids need to learn there are consequences in life. I am doing my job. I am doing it right. I am making life safer one school at a time
[NARRATOR]
In May, the police arrested 31 students at several schools. Justin was one of them
[SIRENS]
[COP]
Freeze! You have the right to remain silent
[STUDENTS]
Everybody who sold drugs to undercover cops is busted
Everybody who sold drugs to undercover cops is busted
Everybody who sold drugs to undercover cops is busted
Everybody who sold drugs to undercover cops is busted
[NARRATOR]
He spent a week in jail wondering what would happen next
[STUDENTS]
It's your word against hers. The cops have every text. The cops have every text. The cops have every text. "Don't worry, girl. I got the stuff, I got you."
[NARRATOR]
He knew he'd lose in court. He had to take a plea
[JUSTIN]
Three years' probation. I plead guilty to the felony
[STUDENTS]
What? A felony? A nickel bag's a felony? What? Justin, say goodbye to college, they got you
[NAOMI]
These kids need to wake up. I don't want to go too much into it, but drugs hit really close to home for me. I saw the effects growing up of cocaine, and marijuana, and ecstasy
[NARRATOR]
With family members?
[NAOMI]
Yes. I've seen what it can do to a family. That's all I want to say about it
[NARRATOR]
Do you wish someone like you had done this type of work?
[NAOMI]
Yes. And I hope someone like me keeps doing it. Still, there are kids you remember, the ones that you'll think about after you're gone
[NARRATOR]
During the week he spent in jail, Justin couldn't help but think about Naomi
[JUSTIN]
She was a light-skinneded Puerto Rican-Dominican, long hair, mature in the body like whoa. That's not the only reason I liked her, though. Yo, if it had been a guy that came up to me asking me for drugs, I would've been like, "No, get out of my face." I don't hang out with people like that. It's cause it was her
[NARRATOR]
Have you talked to her since all of this happened?
[JUSTIN]
No. I would love to. I would love to have that conversation
[NARRATOR]
What do you think you would say?
[JUSTIN]
I would say, what the heck did you do? What the heck did you do? Naomi? What the heck did you do?
Song Overview
Song Credits
- Featured Vocalists: Lindsay Mendez, Gerard Canonico, Antwaun Holley, Anthony Ramos, Alex Boniello
- Producer & Composer: Lin-Manuel Miranda
- Release Date: June 19, 2014
- Album: 21 Chump Street – The Musical EP
- Length: 3 minutes 6 seconds
- Tempo / Key: 151 BPM, C major
- Genre: Hip-Hop / Musical-Theatre hybrid
- Mood: Somber, reflective, courtroom-cold
- Label: 5000 Broadway Productions
- Language: English
- Copyright © 2014 5000 Broadway Productions, Inc.
Song Meaning and Annotations
The Epilogue Lyrics are a gavel strike in 3?4 time. Gone are the playful hand-claps and cousin-choruses; instead, wood-blocks tick like a sentencing clock while synth strings hover in dissonant fifths. Lin-Manuel Miranda lets the groove sag—every eighth-note feels heavier than the last. Hearing sirens fade into the low end, you can practically smell fluorescent jail lighting.
Structurally, the track is a collage: courtroom narration, Naomi’s justification mantra (“making life safer one school at a time”), Justin’s shell-shocked interior monologue, and a Greek-chorus chant of “Everybody who sold drugs to undercover cops is busted.” Those layers overlap like headlines taped to a corkboard, each new snippet pinning Justin further in place.
Narrator’s Verdict
“He spent a week in jail wondering what would happen next.”
The line lands on a minor-four chord, a borrowed gospel color that should promise redemption but here only deepens the pit.
Naomi’s Refrain
Seriously, these kids need to learn there are consequences in life…
Miranda keeps her melody almost monotone—bureaucratic, impersonal—contrasting Justin’s melodic leaps. That musical flatness underscores how procedure can steamroll empathy.
Justin’s Echo
What the heck did you do?
He reprises the hook from song one, but the key has dropped a tritone. It’s the same question, now hopeless. The show began with puppy love; it ends with an accusatory whisper echoing through jail bars.
The verses lift full phrases from Robbie Brown’s This American Life report, giving the Epilogue the ring of oral-history mosaic rather than theatrical invention. That journalistic spine is why the Lyrics sting harder than any rhymed metaphor could.
Similar Songs
- “Finale B” – Rent
Both finales weave past motifs into a final reckoning, but where Larson offers fragile hope, Miranda freezes on the moment just before life resumes—hopeless, administrative, real. - “A Little Priest” – Sweeney Todd
Sondheim’s duet revels in dark humor, yet its last seconds remind the audience of inevitable discovery; Epilogue skips the jokes and heads straight to the knock on the door. - “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story” – Hamilton
Same author, different lens: one asks how history remembers heroes, the other how the justice system forgets teenagers.
Questions and Answers
- Did “Epilogue” chart anywhere?
- No mainstream chart placements exist; the entire EP remains a cult streaming favorite.
- Is the track streamed separately on major platforms?
- Yes—Spotify and Apple Music list “Epilogue” at 3 minutes 6 seconds length under the EP.
- Are there known cover versions?
- YouTube hosts several animatics; the most-watched (SaraPurrpl, 2018) tops 130 K views.
- Where was the premiere performance?
- Brooklyn Academy of Music’s RadioLoveFest, June 7 2014, during a live This American Life event.
- Can schools license only the “Epilogue”?
- No—Concord Theatricals licenses the entire 15-minute musical as a single package.
Fan and Media Reactions
“Justin’s last ‘what the heck’ hit harder than any courtroom scene on TV.” Comment on r/21ChumpStreet
“Naomi saying she made life safer while the sirens play? Irony served ice-cold.” YouTube animatic comment
“That C-major key should feel sunny, yet it sounds like fluorescent jail lights.” @CastAlbumReview on X
“TikTok keeps looping ‘Take the money’ but this finale is where my heart actually breaks.” TikTok @gyumin_jang
“Every production I’ve seen ends with dead silence from the audience—no bows, just thinking.” Drama teacher post on Broadway Amino