Say No to This
| "Say No to This" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Jasmine Cephas Jones, Leslie Odom, Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sydney James Harcourt, & the Cast of Hamilton from the album Hamilton | ||||
| Released | 2015 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:03 | |||
| Writer(s) | Lin-Manuel Miranda | |||
| Composer(s) | Lin-Manuel Miranda | |||
| Lyricist(s) | Lin-Manuel Miranda | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Hamilton track listing | ||||
| ||||
"Say No to This" is a song from the second act of the 2015 musical Hamilton, in which "Hamilton’s eye begins wandering".[1]
Background
According to Slate, the song "began with a quote from LL Cool J’s “I Need Love”", but due to clearance issues from Atlantic Records, "the line was removed before the show’s transition to Broadway".[2]
Synopsis
The song outlines Alexander Hamilton's infidelity with Maria Reynolds. This was the first major political scandal in US history.[3] The song is sung by Alexander Hamilton, Maria Reynolds, James Reynolds, and Company.[4]
Analysis
Vibe described the song as "a ’90s slow jam, Usher-style".[3] Screen Fellows deemed it "the best 90s slow jam R. Kelly never wrote".[5] Musical director Alex Lacamoire noted that he used the cello to represent the character of Angelica, and implements it in a "really snaky and sinister" fashion in this song.[6]
In this song, which Lin-Manuel Miranda describes as “the ultimate infidelity jam”, he includes a reference to a song from the musical The Last Five Years titled “Nobody Needs to Know”.[2]
Critical reception
The Huffington Post wrote that the song includes "classic dude logic: I was crazy tired, so I had to cheat on my wife".[7] Jezebel said that Maria Reynolds has "chilling, low vibrations" in this song.[8] Patheos praised the musical for not making Hamilton "Mister Perfect”, noting that this song illustrates his "short-sightedness."[9] WIUX describes it as "three minutes of sex and inner turmoil".[10] The New Yorker called the song "beautiful".[11]
References
- ↑ Anthony Tommasini, Jon Caramanica (30 August 2015). "Exploring ‘Hamilton’ and Hip-Hop Steeped in Heritage". The New York Times.
- 1 2 Forrest Wickman (24 September 2015). "Hamilton's hip-hop references: All the rap and R&B allusions in Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway musical.". Slate Magazine.
- 1 2 "Going H.A.M.: A Track-By-Track Review Of The 'Hamilton' Soundtrack". Vibe.
- ↑ "'Hamilton' Songs". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
- ↑ "'HAMILTON' Cast Recording Review: An American Masterpiece - FELLOWSHIP OF THE SCREEN". FELLOWSHIP OF THE SCREEN.
- ↑ "Nerding Out With Hamilton's Musical Director -- Vulture". Vulture.
- ↑ "I Have an Opinion on Every Song in "Hamilton"". The Huffington Post. 1 October 2015.
- ↑ Julianne Escobedo Shepherd. "Should You Listen to the Soundtrack to Hamilton If You Have Not Seen Hamilton?". The Muse.
- ↑ "Hamilton The Musical: An Album Review". Monique Ocampo Writes.
- ↑ "Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording)". WIUX.
- ↑ Adam Gopnik (5 February 2016). ""Hamilton" and the Hip-Hop Case for Progressive Heroism". The New Yorker.