Say No To This

"Say No To This"
Song information
Song	4
Act	2
Sung by	Jasmine Cephas Jones, Sydney Harcourt, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Leslie Odom, Jr.
As	Maria Reynolds, James Reynolds, Alexander Hamilton & Aaron Burr
Production	Broadway Production
Album	Broadway Cast Recording
Chronology
Previous	"Take A Break"
Next	"The Room Where It Happens"
Audio
Say No To This

"Say No To This" is the 4th song of Act Two of Hamilton.

While Eliza and Angelica are away at their father's home, Alexander Hamilton is paid a visit by Maria Reynolds, who claims she is being mistreated by her husband, James Reynolds. Alexander lends her money, and soon the two are caught in an affair.

Maria is in an abusive relationship, and was forced to seduce Hamilton by her husband, although she never wanted to have an affair. She later files for divorce.

The affair comes to knowledge of James Reynolds, who in turn, forces Hamilton to pay him a sum to keep the scandal a secret. Hamilton is distraught, but accepts the blackmail and continues the affair.

The affair is kept a secret, until Hamilton is accused of spending government funds, in We Know. He later writes about his affair, denying most of the allegations, but admitting to his affair in The Reynolds Pamphlet.

The affair led to a downfall of Hamilton's political career. In "The Reynolds Pamphlet," his rivals say he's "Never gon' be president now."

Lyrics:

[BURR]
There's nothing like summer in the city
Someone under stress meets someone looking pretty
There's trouble in the air, you can smell it
And Alexander's by himself. I'll let him tell it.

[HAMILTON]
I hadn't slept in a week
I was weak, I was awake
You never seen a bastard orphan more in need of a break
Longing for Angelica
Missing my wife
That's when Ms. Maria Reynolds walks into my life; she said:

[MARIA]
I know you are a man of honor
I'm so sorry to bother you at home
But I don't know where to go
And I came here all alone

[HAMILTON]
She said:

[MARIA]
My husband's been doing me wrong
Beatin' me, cheatin' me, mistreatin' me
Suddenly he's up and gone
I don't have the means to go on

[HAMILTON]
So I offered her a loan, I offered to walk her home, she said

[MARIA]
You're too kind, sir

[HAMILTON]
I gave her thirty bucks that I had socked away
She lived a block away, she said:

[MARIA]
This one's mine, sir

[HAMILTON]
Then I said, "well, I should head back home,"
She turned red, led me to her bed
Let her legs spread and said:

[MARIA]
Stay?

[HAMILTON]
Hey...

[MARIA]
Hey

[HAMILTON]
That's when I began to pray:
Lord, show me how to say no to this
I don't know how to say
No to this
Oh my god, she looks so helpless
And her body's saying, "hell yes"

[MARIA]
Woah...

[HAMILTON]
No, show me how to say

[HAMILTON/ENSEMBLE]
No to this

[HAMILTON]
I... don't know how to say

[HAMILTON/ENSEMBLE]
No to this

[HAMILTON]
In my mind, I'm tryin' to go...

[ENSEMBLE]
Go! Go! Go!

[HAMILTON]
Then her mouth is on mine, and I don't say...

[ENSEMBLE]
No! No!
Say no to this!
No! No!
Say no to this!
No! No!
Say no to this!
No! No!
Say no to this!

[HAMILTON]
I wish I could say that was the last time
I said that last time; it became a pastime
A month into this endeavor, I received a letter
From a Mr. James Reynolds, even better, it said:

[JAMES]
Dear Sir, I hope this letter finds you in good health
And in a prosperous enough position to put wealth
In the pockets of people like me: down on their luck
You see, that was my wife who you decided to

[HAMILTON]
Fuuuu—

[JAMES]
Uh-oh, you made the wrong sucker a cuckold
So time to pay the piper for the pants you unbuckled
And hey, you can keep seein' my whore wife
If this price is right: if not, I'm telling your wife

[HAMILTON]
I hid the letter and raced to her place
Screamed, "How could you?!" in her face
She said:

[MARIA]
No, sir!

[HAMILTON]
Half-dressed, apologetic, a mess
She looked pathetic, she cried:

[MARIA]
Please don't go, sir!

[HAMILTON]
So was your whole story a setup?

[MARIA]
I don't know about any letter

[HAMILTON]
Stop crying
Goddamnit, get up!

[MARIA]
I didn't know any better

[HAMILTON]
I am ruined...

[MARIA] Please don't leave me with him, helpless Just give him what he wants and you can have me Whatever he wants,

[HAMILTON] I am helpless—how could I do this? I don't want you I don't want you

[MARIA] If you pay, you can stay Tonight Helpless Woah How can you say no to this?

[HAMILTON] Lord, show me how to say no to this I don't know how to say no to this 'Cause the situation's helpless And her body's screaming, "Hell yes" No, show me how to say no to this How can I say no to this There is nowhere I can go And when her body's on mine I do not say...

[ENSEMBLE] Say no to this! Say no to this! Say no to this! Say no to this! Go! Go! Go!

[ENSEMBLE]
No

[HAMILTON]
Yes

[ENSEMBLE]
Say no to this!

[HAMILTON] Yes Yes Yes!

[MARIA] Yes Yeah, yeah, yeah Yes

[ENSEMBLE] Say no to this! No! Say no to this! No! Say no to this! No! Say no to this!

[HAMILTON] Say no to this... I don't say no to this There is nowhere I can go

[MARIA] Don't say no to this [ENSEMBLE] Go, go, go...

[JAMES]
So?

[HAMILTON]
Nobody needs to know

Gallery

Trivia

The reason why this song is sung as if it was a book (ex: "she said", "It said", "Then I said, "That's when I began to pray") is because Hamilton is the one telling the story as mentioned by Burr. Because Hamilton loves to write he tells the story as if it was book, unlike Burr who tells the story of the songs more casually