"Satisfied" | ||||
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Song by Renée Elise Goldsberry & the Cast of Hamilton | ||||
from the album Hamilton | ||||
Language | English | |||
Released | 2015 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 5:30 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Lin-Manuel Miranda | |||
Hamilton track listing | ||||
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"Satisfied" | ||||
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Promotional single by Sia featuring Miguel and Queen Latifah | ||||
from the album The Hamilton Mixtape | ||||
Language | English | |||
Released | 2016 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 5:18 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Lin-Manuel Miranda | |||
The Hamilton Mixtape track listing | ||||
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"Satisfied" is the eleventh song from Act 1 of the musical Hamilton, based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, which premiered on Broadway in 2015. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote both the music and lyrics to the song. The song is sung by the character Angelica Schuyler, originally performed by Renée Elise Goldsberry.
On Twitter, Lin-Manuel Miranda posted a real letter from Angelica to Alexander Hamilton that inspired the song's lyrics: "You are happy my dear friend to find consolation in 'words & thoughts.' I cannot be so easily satisfied."
Miranda told The Hollywood Reporter, "The lyrics...are some of the most intricate I've ever written. I can't even rap them, but Renée Elise Goldsberry, who plays Angelica — that's her conversational speed. That's how fast she thinks. You really get the sense that Angelica's the smartest person in the room, and she reads Hamilton within a moment of meeting him."
"Satisfied" begins with Angelica Schuyler's wedding toast for Alexander Hamilton and Eliza (her sister), then proceeds to rewind and retell the events of the previous song, "Helpless," from her own perspective. She, who in "The Schuyler Sisters" had declared was looking for a "mind at work", has now found it in Hamilton yet is forced to give it up for the sake of her sister.
On Stage explains: "in a truly inspired piece of staging that literally made my jaw drop, the scene rewinds around Angelica before your eyes, taking us back to the beginning of 'Helpless'—except now we’re seeing that fateful first meeting of the Schuyler sisters and Hamilton from Angelica’s point of view."
Although Hamilton is based on true events, Miranda does use some dramatic license in retelling the story. In the case of the song “Satisfied” the main differences are:
• During "Satisfied", Angelica explains why Hamilton is not suitable for her despite wanting him. In particular, she states, "I'm a girl in a world in which my only job is to marry rich. My father has no sons so I'm the one who has to social climb for one." In actuality, Angelica had less pressure on her to do this. Philip Schuyler actually had fifteen children, including two sons who survived into adulthood (one of whom was New York State Assemblyman Philip Jeremiah Schuyler).