Say No To This
[BURR]There’s nothing like summer in the citySomeone under stress meets someone looking prettyThere’s trouble in the air, you can smell itAnd Alexander’s by himself. I’ll let him tell it
[HAMILTON]I hadn’t slept in a weekI was weak, I was awakeYou never seen a bastard orphanMore in need of a breakLonging for AngelicaMissing my wifeThat’s when Miss Maria Reynolds walked into my life, she said:
[MARIA]I know you are a man of honorI’m so sorry to bother you at homeBut I don’t know where to go, and I came here all alone…
[HAMILTON]She said:
[MARIA]My husband’s doin’ me wrongBeatin’ me, cheatin’ me, mistreatin’ me...Suddenly he’s up and goneI 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 awayShe 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, she led me to her bedLet her legs spread and said:
[MARIA]Stay?
[HAMILTON]Hey…
[MARIA]Hey…
[HAMILTON]That’s when I began to pray:Lord, show me how toSay no to thisI don’t know how toSay no to thisBut my God, she looks so helplessAnd her body’s saying, “hell, yes”
[MARIA]Whoa...
[HAMILTON]Nooo, show me how to
[HAMILTON/ENSEMBLE]Say no to this
[HAMILTON]I don’t know how to
[HAMILTON/ENSEMBLE]Say 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 timeI said that last time. It became a pastimeA month into this endeavor I received a letterFrom a Mr. James Reynolds, even better, it said:
[JAMES]Dear Sir, I hope this letter finds you in good healthAnd in a prosperous enough position to put wealthIn the pockets of people like me: down on their luckYou see, that was my wife who you decided to
[HAMILTON]Fuuuu—
[JAMES]Uh-oh! You made the wrong sucker a cuckoldSo time to pay the piper for the pants you unbuckledAnd hey, you can keep seein’ my whore wifeIf the price is right: if not I’m telling your wife
[HAMILTON]I hid the letter and I raced to her placeScreamed “How could you?!” in her faceShe said:
[MARIA]No, sir!
[HAMILTON]Half dressed, apologetic. A mess, she lookedPathetic, 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
[HAMILTON]I am helpless—how could I do this?
[MARIA]Just give him what he wants and you can have me
[HAMILTON]I don’t want you
[MARIA]Whatever you want,
[HAMILTON]I don’t want you
[MARIA]If you payYou can stay
[HAMILTON]Lord, show me how to say no to this
[MARIA]Tonight
[HAMILTON]I don’t know how toSay no to thisCuz the situation’s helpless
[MARIA]Helpless
[HAMILTON]And her body’s screaming, “Hell, yes”
[MARIA]Whoa!
[HAMILTON]No, show me how toSay no to this
[MARIA]How can youSay no to this?
[HAMILTON]How can ISay no to this?There is nowhere I can go
[ENSEMBLE]Go! Go! Go!
[HAMILTON]When her body’s on mine I do not say…
[ENSEMBLE]No!
[HAMILTON]Yes!
[ENSEMBLE]Say no to this!
[MARIA]Yes!
[ENSEMBLE]No!
[HAMILTON]Yes!
[ENSEMBLE]Say no to this!
[MARIA]Yes!
[ENSEMBLE]No!
[HAMILTON]Yes!
[ENSEMBLE]Say no to this!
[MARIA]Yes!
[HAMILTON]Say no to this…I don’t say no to thisThere is nowhere I can go.
[ENSEMBLE]Go go go...
[JAMES]So?
[HAMILTON]Nobody needs to know