Fun fact, during the time in which this musical takes place, New Jersey was the only place where it was legal to do honest to god duels, like, pistol fights. So when Hamilton says "is he in Jersey?" in Farmer Refuted, he's saying, "hey, is the king here right now? Because I'll fight him right now, let's go."
This, and also he is commenting on the fact that the king is not, in fact, anywhere nearby, but is in fact an ocean away, so why should he get a say in anything that happens here?
my school band visited nyc but we stayed in new jersey, and you can imagine that the moment we got there we yelled “everything is legal in new jersey!”
Fun Fact: King George's music is inspired by the Beatles. Lin said it was a metaphor the British Invasion, the music movement in the 1960 that took over US radio. The movement only ended when Rap music became more popular in the following decades; A Music Revolution
I think my favourite fact about this song is that despite it looking the most like a costume, king George’s outfit is the most historically accurate outfit in the entire musical, it’s literally a one to one replica
His is actually the only fully accurate one lol because the others have historically accurate costumes, but from the neck up they’re modern :) (hence mulligans beanie)
It's worth noting that throughout the entirety of You'll Be Back, every time Jonathan's eyes move, he's finding a new person in the crowd to STARE DOWN unblinking while he sings his beautifully unnerving lines 😭He is truly dedicated to and loves his role of The "Mad King" Charles
the song "Farmer refuted" is a reference to a real pamphlet war between Alexander Hamilton (who was either 17 or 19 at the time) with Seabury (who was 45). Seabury published his anti-revolution pamphlet under a pseudonym, in which he referred to himself as a common farmer (Seabury was actually a respected member of the clergy). Hamilton ALSO published under a pseudonym, but his writing style was so well known that everyone immediately clocked that it was him, was titled "Farmer, Refuted" to directly attack Seabury''s pamphlet and outsold him by a landslide, and what was really what put Hamilton on the map revolutionarily speaking. you can still find and read the actual "Farmer, Refuted" by Alexander Hamilton, today
One thing I don’t see a lot of people talking about is how the melody lowers and rises in opposite to the lyrics “oceans rise, empires fall,” because in a lot of songwriting it’s common for the opposite to happen, the pitch goes up when the lyrics say something goes up or rises, and the pitch goes down when the lyrics say something goes down or falls, but here, the pitch falls with “rise” and rises with “fall,” which kinda adds to making the king sound a little crazy.
It's worth it to look up Mad King George as he is now known. The line "when you're gone I'll go mad" and the mood swings in the song, plus the spitting.
I don't think it was mentioned in the video, but a neat thing is that during 'You'll Be Back', the King was actually making eye contact with random members of the audience as he was singing; so some poor member of the audience is going to have their friends and family killed, lol
The other day I was listening to a musicals mix on Spotify and I heard Farmer Refuted, including "A MESSAGE FROM THE KING!" (×3) Followed by "I must say, what a brilliant speech you gave"
A character thing is the spitting with the King is just how Jonathan sings but it works so well because King George was famously a 'mad king' and would go on angry rants where he was described to be 'foaming at the mouth' so the King spitting at 'NO DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT' is like King George foaming at the mouth in anger cause of his madness.
Fun fact: Jonathan Groff had already left the show and was replaced by Brian d'Arcy James when they filmed this a few years after the show opened, but they brought him back specifically to make the pro-shot so they could have the original cast together again.
Something funny that I've heard (not sure if it's 100% true), is that when the real Goerge III was really angry foam would start to ran of his mouth, it also happened to him when he had this episodes of none stop talking, that could last for HOURS (he was very mentaly ill). So Jonathan accidentally spliting in "You'll be back" is the most acuerate thing ever xdd
I actually heard that he drank a lot of water before the show so he would spit a lot, so it wasn't that accidental. Jonathan's dedication to the role is amazing
I read the actual article "The Farmer Refuted" that the real Alexander wrote, and he is just as scathing, if not more. It's impossible to exaggerate the real Alexander Hamilton. Even a brilliant actor like Lin can't fully portray his arrogance.
And with 3 stellar songs/appearances in Hamilton, Jonathan Groff was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 2016. The award was won by Daveed Diggs (Lafayette/Jefferson). Christopher Jackson (Washington) was also nominated.
One of my favorite stories of this musical (don't know if it's true) is I heard Beyonce attended one of the first performances or something and went backstage afterwards and helped King George perfect his diva walk for that walk forward
Also fun fact, at the time of this recording Jonathan Groff had already left the stage production. He came back just to record this for the cameras so the complete original cast was featured.
I actually did a bit of research after watching Queen Charlotte, and it's speculated that King George's madness was due to a pretty intense bipolar disorder
Syphilis? Maybe you're confusing him with Henry VIII? Or it's purely American propaganda. In British History class we learned that it was Porphyria, a genetic mutation that causes psychosis, tremors, abdominal pain, hallucinations, and the oddest of all of King George III's symptoms: blue urine! ("Porphyria" comes from the Greek word for purple to describe the color changes in patients urine, from blue to purple.) With just how inbred the European royals were, how mutated their genes ended up, and the fact that King Henry VI also went "mad" just 300 years earlier, it makes way more sense for this to be a hereditary mental health condition than a STD in a king notorious for NOT taking mistresses. Although, fun fact, both Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth had syphilis.... let that headcanon sink in... you're welcome. 😉
For any Bridgerton watchers. King George in Queen Charlotte and Bridgerton is the very same King George in Hamilton. Two very different portrayals of The Mad King.
I'll admit, on more than one occasion, I've attempted to sing/rap both Hamilton and Seabury's lines. Of course, it's impossible to sing overlapping lyrics at the same time with one mouth. 🤣
Casper, not a spoiler: as others have already told you, King George III is also known as the Mad King because he became slowly insane during his rule. pay attention to his character throughout the musical and you might notice his disease progressing (though he was plenty unhinged in this first song lol)
Not sure if anyone answered the wealth question, but Lafayette is the richest of them. He's super-rich landowning French nobility. Then John Laurens, whose father was a very, very rich and politically powerful South Carolina merchant and slave trader. Then Burr, who inherited from his parents and grandparents when they all died. ("I'm a trust fund baby"...) Then probably Hercules, who is a fancy tailor. Then Hamilton, the orphan immigrant who came to the US on scholarship.
Ohmygod, the reaction to Jonathan Groff was so precious!!! I was the same (also loved him in Glee!) when I found out it was him the first time :) LOVED this whole reaction!! Can't wait to see more (especially more of the King)
The classical piece you were referencing is Pachelbel’s Canon in D. One of my FAVORITE pieces. Those of us of a certain age will remember the song being the underscoring from a GE commercial.
I saw Hamilton on Broadway last summer and the farmer (Thayne Jasperson) was playing King George the night I was there. He was hilarious. The part where he’s sitting in the chair in Act II I think he actually made the actor playing Aaron Burr break character and crack up a little, which of course just made the audience laugh harder.
Fun fact: The way he walks as KG3 isn't just to fit the character, it's necessary. That crown is heavy. He had to walk like that so it didn't fall off. 😂
Farmer refuted is also just the title of the essays that Hamilton wrote against Samuel seabury, because Samuel seabury referred to himself as a farmer (it was just his pseudonym, or a fake name he used to write his paper/ and this is basically what he did, Hamilton kind of verbally eviscerated the man, (which is something he would really become known for)
King George is one of my Characters in Hamilton because he just makes me laugh hysterically. Did you know that King George was actually mentally ill? Historically, he was mentally ill, and would get so worked up that he would foam at the mouth. He would also make noises that sounded like: "Dat, dat, dat". Lin Manuel Miranda read this and wrote it into the song.
I’ve never thought of the “when you’re gone I’ll go mad” until now. Bc he was mad - mad king George (he was at this point too but it only got very obvious afterwards) Fun fact: after Washington died, king George was convinced that his ghost haunted him
Gotta love the Groffsauce (fandom name for Groff and his spit). Also, fun historical nod with "When you're gone, I'll go mad" because King George III did in fact go mad.
It's fun that Casper mentions upper classes trying to use propaganda to stop revolution or progression, as the publications this song was based on was Hamilton refuting Samuel Seabury, who signed his letter A W Farmer (short for A Westchester Farmer) but who was in fact a bishop. So probably far from working class in any capacity!
Imagine being the poor SOB who Jonathan locks eyes with, suddenly you have King George III staring at you like a rabbid animal foaming at the mouth, that would kind of be terrifying
Okay but the pedestal isn’t a theatrical metaphor, people used to stand on soap-boxes in the town square to talk about their political positions. That detail is extremely literal 😂
I see it more as the rapping I indicated wit, and also a revolutionary spirit, whereas traditionalists and royalist are singing in standard measure/tempo. I don’t honk that’s such an amazing detail
KG3 is like if a toddler became a tyrant and was mentally unwell. I had read quite a while ago that he behaved erratically because of a disease that he had, but when I went to look up what disease caused his madness, (I was thinking syphillis) I found quite a few articles saying that modern day analysis of his letters suggests he may have suffered from bipolar disorder. Jonathan Groff's salivation, despite some people's belief, isn't an artistic choice to reflect the King's madness. He just has a very moist mouth and apparently that happens with him a lot.
I think Jonathon Groff’s spitting is a mix. The man is a spitter but there are tricks singers can use to try to minimize it. It’s said Groff did the opposite before going on stage as KG3 is described as foaming and spitting at the mouth when he had his fits of madness.
SPOILERS DON'T LOOK CASPER I think the rapping or not has to do with political progress. The revolutionaries do most of the rapping, if I remember correctly. Eliza doesn't rap because she's not focused on politics or legacy, she's focused on family. Seabury and King George don't rap because they're loyalists who want to maintain the status quo. And here's something interesting: in Jefferson's first song, the style is jazz, which is an older style of music, because Jefferson has been in France for a while. He missed the war and the Constitutional Convention, so he comes back to America with little understanding of the political climate. But Jefferson does rap in act 2 because he's trying to help develop the country.
You’ll be back is my mums favorite song so I always sing it for her. I even sang it for my schools talent show on my senior year, in a full crown and cape set up
Fantastic reaction! Love you and Mortius together. Haven't seen it mentioned by anybody else, but when Lin Manuel-Miranda was writing this, he went with a lot of rap and some singing. Mostly in various America-centric styles. But King George? His style is meant to be reminiscent of the Beatles.
I was going to refute your claim that Jonathan Groff did the best cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody" with Brendon Urie/Panic! At The Disco, but then I realized I can't honestly refute it, because I've never heard his cover.
So a thing I noticed. Lafayette pushed Hamilton forward first and then Burr pushed him back. Then Lafayette being his funny silly little goofy self had an attitude about it then pushed him forward again.
There were a TON of technical difficulties with the sync watch which sadly resulted in a bunch of bumps like that for this video, I sincerely apologize
